The China Mail - Asterix, Obelix and Netflix: US streamer embraces Gallic heroes

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.

- 'Great job' -

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.

L.Kwan--ThChM