The Walt Disney Company’s creative momentum was on full display at the 2024 Disney APAC Content Showcase this week, with an immersive presentation of its 2025-26 theatrical and streaming slate that transported audiences to new worlds and new stories. The star-studded event at Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands saw the world-class storytelling engines of the company take center stage with exclusive previews of highly anticipated releases and major title announcements from its award-winning creative studios, including Disney Live Action, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios.
On the second day of the showcase, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific unveiled a wave of announcements surrounding its upcoming slate of Disney+ APAC Originals, featuring the region’s top talent and storytellers. The announcements captivated the audience with major reveals, first looks, and appearances from some of Korea and Japan’s biggest stars, demonstrating the unparalleled strength and appeal of Disney’s creative excellence.
“As we all know, APAC is an important and vibrant growth region for The Walt Disney Company. It’s a region with rich stories to uncover, a deep pool of talent and an undeniable passion for great storytelling,” Dana Walden, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, said. “I’ve been so impressed with our world-class APAC Originals. They are central to our content strategy and a key component of the Disney+ portfolio.”
The presentation on Day two included breaking news about upcoming Korean series The Murky Stream starring Rowoon and Shin Yeeun; The Manipulated starring Ji Changwook and Doh Kyungsoo; Tempest starring Jun Gianna, Gang Dongwon and John Cho, and Made In Korea starring Hyun Bin and Jung Woosung.
The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific also confirmed that Moving Season Two is in development, following the company’s successful collaboration with Moving and Light Shop creator Kangfull. First launched in 2023, Moving went on to become a smash global hit on Disney+ and Hulu, ranking as the number one local original title globally on Disney+ last year, with over 10 industry awards to date. In 2021, the company embarked on original content production for Disney+ in the APAC region and has since launched over 130 APAC Originals on Disney+ to date, several of which have attained critical and commercial success.
Last year, among the top 15 best performing international original titles released on Disney+, nine of them were Korean titles (based on views). This year, Korean action drama A Shop For Killers has become the most viewed series on Disney+ in APAC. Anime continues to be a draw for audiences with top performing titles including Tokyo Revengers Season 2 and Sand Land: The Series by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. This year, travel reality show Are You Sure?!, starring BTS stars Jimin and Jung Kook, has also become the most viewed unscripted title on Disney+ in APAC, and a strong performer internationally.
“Stories produced in Asia Pacific have become a staple in general entertainment consumption — they are world-class productions, with growing global resonance and deep passionate fandoms worldwide,” Carol Choi, Executive Vice President of Original Content Strategy, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, said. “Our content strategy remains focused on curating premium, talent-driven Originals from the region — quality, best-in-class tentpole titles with some of the very top names in entertainment.”
New Japanese anime titles were also showcased, including BULLET/BULLET, Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation, and CAT’S EYE. Season Two of award-winning Japanese original Gannibal, one of the first live action APAC Originals to be renewed for a second season, will sunrise on Disney+ on March 19, 2025.
To complement the Japanese live action and anime slate on Disney+, the company also announced that it will expand into Japanese unscripted content, in collaboration with partner Nippon TV. This includes a new travel reality show, Traveling with Snow Man (working title) featuring Japanese pop group Snow Man, represented by talent agency Starto Entertainment. The new show builds on the growing enthusiasm amongst Japanese audiences towards unscripted content and exemplifies the shared ambitions of Disney, Nippon TV and Starto Entertainment to spotlight the most exciting talent from Japan to global audiences, and to cooperate in new and innovative ways.
Choi continued, saying “As we’ve learnt from the global success of Shōgun, the most compelling stories can come from new and unknown worlds, they can be in different languages and in new formats. But at the core if it, they have to be stories rooted in a fearless authenticity in storytelling with exceptional production quality. It’s truly exciting to see APAC becoming a hotbed of creative inspiration for the world’s best storytellers, with the region’s deep heritage of stories, rich culture and diverse tapestry of original content.”
Day one delighted those in attendance with a surprise virtual appearance from Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and an in-person appearance from Captain America: Brave New World star Anthony Mackie. The event also broke the exclusive news that Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 will be debuting next year on Disney+. Volume 3 will return to Japan to celebrate the incredible world of anime through the elements and mythos of Star Wars. The upcoming series will also feature both new and returning anime studios, each with a distinctive style.
Day one’s event saw the unveiling of several previews and sneak peeks never seen before in APAC, including song previews from upcoming movies — Walt Disney Animation’s Moana 2, Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King and Disney’s Snow White; and first looks at Disney’s TRON: Ares, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2, Pixar Animation Studios’ Hoppers and Dream Productions; Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and much more.
“The Walt Disney Company is in a very unique position as we are entertaining and engaging consumers in multiple ways and touchpoints, centered on a legacy of creative excellence and relentless focus on quality storytelling,” Luke Kang, President, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, said in his opening remarks. “I believe our storytelling is stronger than ever before, driven by the unmatched strength of our global and local creative studios across film, television and streaming, and the wide appeal of our beloved brands and franchises. From our streaming service Disney+, to our films, our games, consumer products, publishing, live stage, music, parks and experiences, we are bringing new stories and new worlds to everyone everyday, creating memories that will last generations.”
Following the end of the showcase, fans from across APAC had the chance to see the stars of Disney storytelling from Hollywood, Korea and Japan. The Disney Presents: A Night Of Stars fan event featured Anthony Mackie, star of Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World, the stars of upcoming Disney+ K-dramas Hyper Knife — Park Eunbin, Sul Kyunggu; Knock-Off — Kim Soohyun, Cho Boah; Light Shop — Ju Jihoon, Park Boyoung; Low Life — Ryu Seungryong, Yang Sejong, Lim Soojung; Nine Puzzles — Kim Dami, Son Sukku and Unmasked — Kim Hyesoo, Jung Sungil, as well as the celebrated cast of Disney+ Japan’s hit drama series Gannibal — Yuya Yagira and Show Kasamatsu.
(Source: Disney)
