by Thinus Ferreira
Netflix held its first ever Netflix International Showcase in Los Angeles for its non-English global content, announcing a raft of new international content coming in 2025 and that its next live-streamed event would be two American NFL games on Christmas Day, including Beyonce's halftime show during the Houston vs Baltimore game.
"Many people assume that the easiest way to program for such a huge audience is to make global hits that everyone can enjoy. Once in a rare while, that’s the goal, but mostly it’s not," Bela Bajaria, Netflix chief content officer, told the media.
Netflix is doing another localised version of Love Is Blind, Love is Blind: France which will be released in 2025 and be Netflix's 11th version of the show.
Reality series Physical 100 has been renewed for a third season, entitled Physical 100: Asia, and will now have contestants from across Asia.
India's Shah Rukh Khan is doing an as-yet-untitled series for Netflix set inside Bollywood, produced by his Red Chillies Entertainment.
"Set against the backdrop of the film industry, this multi-genre project promises an audacious, unabashed, entertaining ride through the adventures of a charming, ambitious outsider navigating the glitzy yet tricky world of Bollywood," is Netflix's description of this series.
"This series blends a high-stakes narrative with self-aware humour, featuring blockbuster cameos and larger-than-life characters for an unforgettable, tongue-in-cheek take on Indian cinema."
In Italy Netflix produced The Leopard, One Hundreds Years of Solitude (pictured) in Colombia, Senna in Brazil, as well as The Last Samurai Standing in Japan.
From Spain comes El Refugio Atómico and Alcatraz (docuseries), with the second season of Squid Game from South Korea that will be released on Netflix on 26 December.
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight from France is a limited animated family series. Atrapados is a limited crime drama series from Argentina and Celda 211 from Mexico tells the story of a human rights attorney who gets trapped in prison during a riot.
Germany's The Empress gets a second season.
Asian series on Netflix that have been renewed for further seasons include Japan's Alice in Borderland for a third season, India's Delhi Crime getting a third season, Kuwait's The Exchange getting a second season, as well as India's Heeramandi and Rana Naidu both getting second seasons.