Netflix have announced two new shows that fall under the ever-popular categories of anime and adaptations of existing franchises: Skull Island (as in, from King Kong) and Tomb Raider (as in, from the game Tomb Raider). Although little information has been released so far, both are the sort of inherently cartoony properties that seem naturally suited to the anime medium – one’s a video game adaptation and the other involves a giant gorilla.
Island of Skulls
The basic premise of Skull Island is that a group of people are shipwrecked, and try to escape the island they’ve washed up on. At the risk of spoilers, it’s more than likely they’ll run into a king-sized animal of some kind. If that is a surprise, it shouldn’t be: the title’s clearly pointing in the same direction as the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island.
Skull Island is being developed by Legendary, the same people behind the upcoming film Godzilla Vs. Kong, so this ties in nicely with that. Providing the actual animation is the Powerhouse Animation studio, a proven quantity who have already worked on another Netflix animated adaptation, the well-regarded Castlevania.
Attached as a writer and executive producer is Brian Duffield, most recently known for the similarly monstery Love And Monsters.
Raider of Tombs
Likewise, Tomb Raider slots nicely into the wider, existing franchise – the animated version will be following on from Square Enix’s reboot of the games, a trilogy released from 2013 to 2018. However, it’s completely separate from the recent Tomb Raider film starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, an adaptation of the 2013 game and itself a reboot of the two Tomb Raider films from the early 2000s which starred Angelina Jolie. I have it on good authority the plot of the animated Tomb Raider will not be as convoluted as this.
Tasha Huo, who has also worked on Netflix’s upcoming prequel The Witcher: Blood Origin, is attached as writer and executive producer.
READ MORE: 10 Anime Shows For People Who Don’t Watch Anime
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