Asterix, Obelix And Netflix: US Streamer Embraces Gallic Heroes
France's beloved comic book heroes Asterix and Obelix are set for their latest incarnation in a Netflix mini-series being released Wednesday, hoping to win over new fans, notably in the United States and Asia.
The plucky Gallic rebels, created by illustrator Albert Uderzo and writer Rene Goscinny in 1959, have a vast following thanks to the original comic books that have sold around 400 million copies.
A series of big-budget French films -- the latest in 2023 took them to China in "Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom" -- has also helped expand their reach.
But warrior Asterix and his powerful but dim-witted sidekick Obelix are yet to conquer viewers in the United States and Britain, which have their own comic book and animated hero characters from Marvel, Disney and other stables.
"Often unfortunately in these markets the Asterix films tend to be released in arthouse cinemas," said Celeste Surugue, head of the Editions Albert Rene publishing company that owns the rights to the original comics.
Although the tales of Roman-era adventure have a following in Australia and New Zealand, Asia also remains a global weak spot for the potion-swigging Gallic underdogs.
"The strength of a streaming platform is that access to viewers isn't limited by distribution," Surugue said.
Netflix is set to release the new five-part animated mini-series based on the 1966 book "Asterix and the Big Fight" in 190 countries, with 38 different language versions including Mandarin, Korean and Arabic.
It is directed by Alain Chabat, 23 years after his success with the "Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra" film starring Gerard Depardieu and Monica Bellucci, which remains one of the best-selling films in France of all time.
Netflix has past form with Asterix, having experimented with streaming rights for "The Middle Kingdom" film in 2023, which featured French A-listers Marion Cotillard and Vincent Cassel but suffered from generally poor reviews.
The platform has also helped bring other French productions to a global audience, overcoming the traditional aversion of English speakers to subtitles with hit shows such as "Lupin" and "Call My Agent".
While creating the dubbing for the new Asterix series, it was able to rely on the 120 different translations of the original French comics as well as the foreign-language versions of the previous films.
"They've done a great job," Surugue said.
"Asterix and the Big Fight" is set in the year 50 BC with Asterix and Obelix's indomitable village still the last Gallic holdout against Roman occupation.
The duo oversee the resistance, including a fight between their chief Vitalstatistix and a local Roman-backed rival, while struggling with the loss of the recipe for the magic potion that gives the villagers their super-human strength.
"I always liked 'The Big Fight' for the dynamic with the Gallo-Romans. Here, there are truly invaders, resistance fighters and collaborators," director Chabat told reporters in March.
The 41st Asterix album, "Asterix in Lusitania", will be released in October in 18 languages and is set in Portugal. Netflix has past form with the French comic book heroes AFP
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DW
4 hours ago
- DW
Berlin pays tribute to Christo's iconic 'Wrapped Reichstag' – DW – 06/06/2025
Thirty years ago, Germany's parliament building "disappeared" under silver fabric for two weeks. The work of art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude is now celebrated with a light installation. Anyone who was in Berlin in the summer of 1995 will probably remember it for the rest of their lives: how the Reichstag — the seat of the German parliament — disappeared. Not blown up, not demolished, but completely wrapped in silver fabric and tied up with thick ropes, almost like a gift. A crazy idea? Perhaps. But also one that made history. Behind this spectacular action was a pair of artists who have repeatedly surprised the world with their ephemeral mega works of art: Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Their vision of a wrapped Reichstag was big, bold — and took 23 years to plan. 2025: A special anniversary year 2025 is a real anniversary year for fans of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Not only is Berlin marking the 30th anniversary of the "Wrapped Reichstag" with a light installation projected onto the west façade of the Reichstag building from June 9 to 22, but other cities around the world are also paying tribute to the couple's works: Paris commemorates the wrapping of its Pont Neuf that happened 40 years ago, while New York marked the 20th anniversary of "The Gates," an installation in Central Park featuring thousands of gates on which fabric panels fluttered. And above all, both artists would have turned 90 this year: They were born on the same day, on June 13, 1935. Christo was born in Bulgaria and later fled from the communist East to Western Europe, first to Prague, then to Vienna, Geneva and finally Paris. There he met Jeanne-Claude in 1958 — she was French with roots in Morocco. The two became an unbeatable team. Christo was the artist, Jeanne-Claude the organizer — whereby both saw themselves as equal partners and later officially signed all projects together. After 23 years of planning, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's dream became a reality Image: 1995 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, Photo: Wolfgang Volz Their specialty was huge, spectacular art installations in public spaces. They wrapped bridges, buildings or entire coastal strips, stretched gigantic curtains through valleys or erected kilometer-long fabric installations. None of it permanent, all self-financed, without advertisers or sponsors; the money for the projects was only generated through the sale of drawings, collages and designs. 'Wrapped Reichstag': A long wait for approval The idea of wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin was born back in 1971 — in the middle of the Cold War. At the time, the Reichstag stood right next to the Berlin Wall. It was a symbolic building, but was not actually used. The seat of government of the then Federal Republic of Germany was still in Bonn, and the Bundestag (the German parliament) only moved into the Reichstag building with its characteristic glass dome, remodeled by architect Norman Foster, in 1999. In 1978, Christo presented the model of the wrapped Reichstag at an exhibition in Zurich Image: Niklaus Stauss/akg/picture-alliance Christo and Jeanne-Claude were nevertheless fascinated by the building's symbolism and historical role. Time and again, this place has been the scene of significant moments in Germany's history, during the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Nazis' "Third Reich" and the Second World War, the division of Germany after the war and its eventual reunification. Christo and Jeanne-Claude wanted to make this building visible again by concealing it for a brief period. But a work of art like this required permission — and that took a long time coming. It was not until 1994, after more than 20 years of discussion, that the Bundestag finally gave its approval, following vigorous debate. And this paved the way to one of the most impressive art projects of the century. The then President of the Bundestag, Rita Süssmuth, supported the project Image: Jockel Finck/AP Photo/picture alliance Summer 1995: A silver dream in the middle of Berlin Finally, in June 1995, the Reichstag was completely wrapped in over 100,000 square meters of silver fabric and 16 kilometers of rope. The wrapping lasted several days and was followed around the world. The wrapped Reichstag appeared soft, shimmering, mysterious, like a work of art amid clouds. From June 24 to July 7, 1995, over 5 million people came to Berlin to witness this spectacle with their own eyes. It was like a huge public festival: People were lying on the grass, having picnics, taking photos and discussing it. 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This article was originally written in German.
Int'l Business Times
29-05-2025
- Int'l Business Times
Italian Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri Out At Dior
Dior announced Thursday that Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri was stepping down as artistic director of the French fashion house's women's collection after almost a decade on the job. Dior has boomed since Chiuri took over in 2016, becoming the second-biggest brand in the stable of luxury labels owned by French powerhouse LVMH. The 61-year-old designer's modernisation and feminist activism helped attract new customers. Chiuri, who was the first woman to be named Dior's creative director after a career at Italian brands Valentino and Fendi, had long been rumoured to be on her way out. "The House of Dior wishes today to express its deepest gratitude to Maria Grazia Chiuri after a wonderful collaboration as Artistic Director of the Women's collections since 2016," Dior said in a statement. "After nine years, I am leaving the House of Dior, delighted by the extraordinary opportunity I have been given," Chiuri said in the statement. Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, who was named creative director of Dior Men last month, has been tipped as a possible successor, which would make him the first person to head both the men's and women's collections. If that came to be, it would give "greater consistency" between the men's and women's offerings and would be "impactful for the public and for consumers", said Serge Carreira, an academic specialising in the luxury industry. Already anticipation is building around Anderson's first Dior menswear show in June. Chiuri on Tuesday presented Dior Women's 2026 Cruise collection in Rome, the city of her birth, in an 18th century villa. The show concluded with a standing ovation for the designer. Guests including Silvia Venturini Fendi, granddaughter of Fendi's founders and the menswear artistic director of the brand, and Valentino founder Valentino Garavani. After training at Italy's Istituto Europeo di Design, Chiuri worked for Fendi in the 1990s before joining Valentino in 1999, where she and artistic partner Pier Paolo Piccioli became creative co-directors. In 2016, she was tapped to succeed Raf Simons at Dior, and "she really wrote a whole chapter in Dior's history", said Carreira, who teaches at Paris's Sciences Po university. Even if some critics argued that she lacked creativity, he disagreed, saying: "She managed to boost and create a very consistent identity at Dior Women... that she constantly refreshed and fed with new ideas." Speculation already swirled around Chiuri's future at her last Paris Fashion Week in March. Her face was inscrutable at the end of a 25-minute Fall/Winter 2025 show in the Tuileries Gardens, as she briefly acknowledged applause from a crowd that was relatively low on A-list celebrities. Some observers had suggested the classic French house was growing stale. Its growth is of crucial financial and dynastic importance to LVMH owner Bernard Arnault, who placed his daughter Delphine in charge of Dior in February 2023. In the Dior statement, Delphine Arnault praised Chiuri's "immense work with an inspiring feminist viewpoint and exceptional creativity". Speaking to Grazia magazine in February, Chiuri said she had seen the fashion business change greatly over her 40-year career. "Fashion used to be about family companies and there were small audiences -- clients and buyers," she said. "Now fashion is like a channel. It's something more popular, it's like pop. It's a form of media." LVMH's global first-quarter results were weaker than expected, with sales over the period dropping two percent against the backdrop of trade uncertainty unleashed by US President Donald Trump's tariffs. French group Hermes overtook LVMH as the world's most valuable luxury company in April after shares in the Louis Vuitton maker tumbled following weaker-than-expected quarterly sales. LVMH shares have been sliding since the end of February. Maria Grazia Chiuri's last show for Dior -- the 26 cruise collection, shown in Rome -- received a standing ovation AFP Dior is a crucial brand in the LVMH luxury group -- so much so that LVMH boss Bernard Arnault has put his daughter Delphine in charge of it AFP
DW
27-05-2025
- DW
Beyond Trump's film tariffs: Is Hollywood really in decline? – DW – 05/27/2025
Fewer films are being made in the US. But will tariffs alone bring back productions to LA in the face of a more globalized industry? When Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on any film "produced in foreign lands," a globalized US film industry began to panic. Shares in major production companies like Netflix and Disney immediately fell due to an assumed rise in costs when productions can no longer profit from cheaper overseas locations. In recent decades, American films and TV series have benefited from generous tax incentives for shooting in Europe, Canada or Australia, making Hollywood locations comparatively expensive. At the same time, the film and content industry has become highly decentralized, with international co-productions able to share resources and access funding across multiple countries. Trump pushes levy on foreign-made films To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Stars deride tariffs proposal in Cannes While lacking detail about whether the tariffs will only apply to "movies" or also TV series, Trump's threat to heavily tax foreign content within the massive US market was widely criticized during last week's Cannes Film Festival. American director Wes Anderson, in Cannes to launch his new film "The Phoenician Scheme," wondered how the tariffs could ever work when applied to intellectual property as opposed to physical goods. "Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn't ship that way," the filmmaker said at a press conference. Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, who accepted an honorary Palme d'Or in Cannes, said of Trump's film sanctions: "You can't put a price on creativity, but apparently you can put a tariff on it." Meanwhile, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, an Indian actor, filmmaker and Bollywood star, said on social media that a 100% tariff on foreign movies could mean that "India's struggling film industry will collapse entirely." Is Hollywood's decline overstated? In a post on Truth Social announcing the film tariffs, Donald Trump claimed that "the movie industry in America is dying a very fast death." On-location filming in Hollywood has declined around 34% in the last five years, according to Film LA, a film industry publication. While many film workers have lost their jobs as a result, the slowdown isn't only due to incentives to shoot in foreign locations. The COVID-19 pandemic, a global economic downturn and a months-long strike by actors and writers in 2023 have also caused Hollywood to grind to a halt. The actors' and writers' strikes of 2023 had a significant economic impact on Hollywood Image:As budgets tighten, films might not be made without co-productions that take advantage of incentives in foreign regions, says Stephen Luby, a lecturer in film at the Victorian College of the Arts in Australia. "US productions which have taken advantage of tax incentives in places like Australia to make their films offshore, do so because the films are less expensive to make that way," he told DW. "Perhaps they may not get made without pursuing this pathway." While actor-director Mel Gibson is helping to advise Trump on the tariffs and ways to "make Hollywood great again," his latest film, "The Resurrection of the Christ," will be shot in Rome and across southern Italy. There is currently a slight US trade deficit in entertainment content, meaning more is imported than exported — $27.7 billion (€24.35 billion) versus $24.3 billion in 2023. But according to Jean Chalaby, a professor of sociology at the University of London, this balance is driven by streamers like Netflix who do not officially export US-made content like "Stranger Things," but distribute it internationally via their own US-based platform. Meanwhile, hit series like "Adolescence" and "Squid Game" that are acquired from overseas are counted as imports, even if they are US assets that earn Netflix "hundreds of millions of dollars" in subscription fees, Chalaby noted in an article for The Conversation. "The US-based entertainment industry has never been so dominant globally," he added, despite the trade deficit. The US also remains the world's largest film and TV exporter, even as Hollywood faces more competition from content hubs like South Korea. "If implemented, these tariffs will certainly have far-reaching consequences for the film and TV industry," Chalaby concluded. "But they are unlikely to make anyone more prosperous." 'Squid Game' made a lot of money for US-based Netflix, yet much of the production was outsourced to South Korea Image: Yonhap/picture alliance Tariffs could mark a content trade war Sections of the local film industry support Trump's intention to bring productions back to the US, including the union representing actors, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. So too the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a US film industry group that represents studios from Disney to Netflix, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros, agrees that more content should be made in the US and supports the principle of tariffs. MPA wants to weaken the local content quotas and tax incentives that attract productions to other countries. In February, when Trump announced his broader tariffs, he singled out protectionism in the EU film market, where US streamers are required to include at least 30% of European content in their programming within EU member states. Under the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive, these states can also demand that the likes of Netflix and Disney be obliged to fund local productions — which the streaming giants have tried to avoid through legal action. Others in Hollywood question Trump's tariffs logic, and his commitment. "The tariff thing, that's not going to happen right? That man changes his mind 50 times," said US director Richard Linklater in Cannes at the opening of his film "Nouvelle Vague." At that same press conference, the discussion surrounding Trump's tariffs led Zoey Deutch, who stars in Linklater's film that was shot in Paris, to praise Hollywood's history and culture: "It would be nice to make more movies in Los Angeles," she said, almost nostalgically. "I just finished doing a movie there and it was magical." Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier
