The subscriber base and library of content for Crunchyroll, which Sony’s Funimation just acquired for $1.175 billion, keep expanding. Additionally, as anime becomes a pillar of mainstream culture, bigger and bigger personalities are joining together with organizations like Crunchyroll to break into the market. As an illustration, Idris Elba, known for his roles in the movies Thor, Pacific Rim, and The Wire, will produce a new series made specifically for the platform.
What to Expect
Dantai (working title) is a dark, Afrofuturistic sci-fi series “set in a city where the rise of biotechnology has created an ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots,” according to a recent Crunchyroll announcement. The show follows two rising stars from either side of this divide, who are pitted against one another ““in a story that will ultimately explore equality and kinship within a corrupt society.”
The Deal
Along with the news, Crunchyroll revealed that in January, its subscriber base had topped four million (up from three million in the summer of 2020). Alongside the expansion of anime streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and others, Crunchyroll has been stepping up its original content game. The agreement with the Elbas occurs as Funimation, a joint venture of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment, is getting ready to purchase Crunchyroll from its owner AT&T for $1.2 billion. With a global audience of 100 million, the 14-year-old service surpassed 4 million members in January, up from 3 million in July 2020.
Dantai will join a collection of more than a thousand books. Crunchyroll’s head of development Sarah Victor said, “We’re pleased to be working with Idris and Sabrina to build this anime-inspired sci-fi epic.” Working with such great, imaginative collaborators is a privilege, and we are looking forward to realizing this fascinating project.