Not sure how many people remember last year how, practically the day after OCTB's final episode was broadcast on Youtube, the series was "taken down" permanently from the site, which sparked some outcry because many people hadn't watched the finale yet. At the time, in response to this, I remember producer/director Jones Soong mentioning that they were forced to take the series down for financial reasons (implying that due to the series' success, a media company was interested in buying the series so they had to take it down to protect that company's interests), however Jones insisted that the series will be back "very soon". At the time, there were rumors that the media company Jones referred to was actually Netflix, but it was never officially confirmed.
Well, it's confirmed now! According to the below article, OCTB officially airs on Netflix starting today (2/5/18). Jones Soong said that since removing the series from Youtube, they have spent the last 6 months in post-production, making the series better than when it originally aired. For those who are worried that anything substantial changed, Jones said not to worry, as most of the changes were to the aesthetics rather than the plot and also improving upon the visuals such as making the transitions from one scene to the next much smoother. The biggest change is in the opening theme credits, which will be in English now rather than Chinese. I don't currently subscribe to Netflix but now I'm considering doing so just so I can check out how the series will look now, lol.
Oh, and for season 2 news – Jones Soong confirmed that they have more than enough funding for season 2 (most who followed the series last year will probably remember that season 1 funding was a huge challenge and mostly involved Danny Chan, Jones Soong, Sam Lee, and few other friends pooling their life savings together in order to make the series), especially now that Netflix is involved. When asked whether they will be able to invite "big name" Asian stars to join the cast now, Jones said that they are actually looking at incorporating Hollywood stars. He said that they are currently in talks with a particular Hollywood star to join the cast – of course, as usual, he won't reveal who the person is but he did say the actor collaborated with famous wrestler-turned-actor The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) in the past (already there is speculation that the Hollywood actor they are in talks with is Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel, however that is of course rumor at this point). So until the cast is announced, let the speculations begin!!
Link to article: HK01
Link to article: HK01
Is Season 2 airing on Netflix too? Or will it be available on YouTube for overseas viewers?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: They didn't say specifically but I'm assuming season 2 will be airing on Netflix as well. The only reason why OCTB aired on Youtube previously is because Visual Brothers (Jones Soong's company that produced the series) didn't have any other real platform in HK to share their series, since they aren't affiliated with any TV stations and didn't have a presence on the Internet. Now that Netflix has expressed interest in their series, most likely that will be the platform they use going forward.
DeleteYay for OCTB production team. It's good that Netflix is investing for season 2. Hopefully it means we'll see better production quality with the same great script and cast.
ReplyDeleteBut it's also sad that this means it'll be hard to find ways to watch this overseas...
@Phixster: Yup! I didn’t get a chance to check it out on Netflix yet but definitely curious to see how it will look.
DeleteBTW...my new reel post will be up shortly but there is news out today that filming for season 2 will be postponed until March. :-(. Details will be in the post (once I get it up).
Wow! What a huge leap! They are looking to incorporating big name Hollywood actors? I think Vin Diesel is possible. Maybe even Jason Statham? Tyrese Gibson? Tyrese doesn't have much work nowadays so probably he'll jump at any opportunities that goes his way. Even with Netflix backing this, I don't think they will bring it a major star like Vin Diesel.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's Tyrese, the man's had a tough year with his public breakdown. He needs all the help he can get, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Sung Kang though
Delete@Anonymous: I actually don't follow Hollywood too closely so no opinion on the actors. I'm actually fine with whichever actor they put in as long as it makes sense.
DeleteOh, by the way, not sure if you guys read my entertainment newsreel post but the filming for season 2 as been postponed to March. The details are in that post.
Almost forgot about Sung Kang! lol I was just thinking that if they still want to go with the RHKP secret police/British spy angle, then they could have Jason Statham or Luke Evans as a British spy or something.
ReplyDeleteThe show's out on Netflix for over a day now and I haven't seen any comments or reviews of the Netflix version. I really want to hear the English version of "Big Man" but I got a feeling I will cringe. lol
@ch1kusoo: I'm actually watching it on my ipad right now (I caved and got a Netflix subscription, lol). The theme song is still in Chinese (the same one as before), however the difference is that all the opening credits are in English now. There's also the lyrics to the song in English as well. The dialogue is all in Cantonese (same as before) but now with English subtitles.
DeleteThis is actually pretty cool, as it makes it easier to talk about the series with everything in English now (don't need to translate, lol). And the good thing with Netflix is that we can download the episodes to watch at later date in case we don't have wifi connection.
Looks like I'm going to be binge re-watching OCTB for the next couple days, lol. :-)
P.S.: Netflix has 1 month free subscription right now so you can go in and re-watch the entire series for free. I follow OCTB's Facebook page and they were also touting this Netflix promo on there as well, lol.
@ch1kusoo: In terms of review and such -- I'll be sure to post something up once I finish watching the Netflix version (which could take a couple days due to my schedule).
DeleteVin Diesel would be awesome! Great that they have Netflix funding now so the production can be even better! Actually I have yet to binge watch this series. Wow since they won’t start filming until March looks like we won’t season 2 until next year?
ReplyDelete@sport @ch1kusoo @Anonymous: I put this in the chat box but in case you don’t see it: Big news about OCTB today - major Hollywood actor will be joining season 2 as a villain...according to producer Jones Soong, the actor is international level and well-known...Netflix is very much invested in the series because it has been doing well since joining the platform, remaining in the #1 and 2 positions consistently. Also, Netflix gained another 700K new users who signed up for 1 month free trial to watch OCTB and continued their subscription (I was actually one of those 700K, lol). Bad news is that looks like filming for season 2 will be further delayed, as the script is only 50% finished...
DeleteFantastic that a Season 2 will be a reality. Not sure who feels the need for so called Hollywood stars but the current cast minus the sub par white actors, are more than excellent.
ReplyDelete@Steve Bodiford: Hi there! I read last week that season 2 has already started filming so looks like we may get to watch it real soon! :-)
DeleteAwesome! This is going to make so many people happy. I am already looking for the day can start watching it. I am watching shows by Andy Yeatman with my kids now days and I don’t want to break that fun in between. I have saved this post and I will begin with the show soon.
ReplyDeleteSo what ever happened to Season 2?
ReplyDelete