Netflix Teases Summer Slate, Announces Sailor Moon Eternal Movies and More

Netflix has been teasing their original offerings for the summer months, releasing a sizzle reel of their upcoming movies. Among them are several of the animated movies they have previously announced. These include three titles from Sony Pictures Animation: The Mitchells Vs The Machines (released April 30), Wish Dragon and the just-announced Vivo.  There's not a whole lot of footage we've not previously seen, but it does confirm a release window for some titles that had not yet had their release dates confirmed.

It also features our first look at America: The Motion Picture, the adult alternate-history comedy from producers Adam Reed (Archer), Phil Lord and Chris Miller and director Matt Thompson (Sea Lab 2021, Frisky Dingo).  The film stars Channing Tatum as an action-hero version of George Washington in a fictionalised version of the US's early years.

 

The adult comedy doesn't yet have a precise release date announced (neither does Lin Manuel-Miranda's Vivo) but a couple of other eagerly awaited titles have had their debuts dated. Sony's Chinese co-production Wish Dragon will arrive on June 11. Guillermo del Toro's ambitious Tales Of Arcadia saga reaches its epic conclusion, with the cross-over movie Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans, set to hit Netflix on July 21 everywhere. 

 

 

 

Another of anime's biggest franchises has found a home on Netflix. The company has announced that they have acquired the rights to Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie Parts one and two. Based on the worldwide phenomenon that is Sailor Moon,  the two-part movie is adapted from the Dream arc of the original manga. The films are a continuation of the three-season Sailor Moon Crystal TV series, which was intended to be a more faithful adaptation of Naoko Takeuchi's original manga than the beloved 90s TV series. The movies will stream worldwide (excluding Japan) on June 3.

 

Wings Of Fire, the animated series based on the fantasy book series from producer Ava DuVernay has landed at Netflix. Set in a world populated by intelligent dragons, Tui T Sutherland's saga spans 15 books, giving show-runners Dan Milano and Christa Starr. A lot of material to draw upon. The news was a little surprising, as a Warner Bros Animation production the smart money would have been on it being bound for WarnerMedia's own streaming service HBO Max.  Whatever the reason might be for the decision to sell it to a rival streaming service, it's good news if you're a Netflix subscriber.  No release date has been announced at this stage.

Just ahead of its release, Netflix has also released a new trailer for LeSean Thomas's Yasuke. The US-born director created and directed the fantasy action historical series, based on the life of the real-life African samurai of the title (with added magic and giant robots). The series is animated by renowned anime studio MAPPA and features character designs by the legendary Takeshi Koike (Redline, Ninja Scroll). The six-episode series arrives on April 29.

The third season of teens versus dinos TV spin-off Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous will be coming to Netflix on May 21. Check out the new trailer, here.