Six Trends Set To Shape Asia Pacific’s TV & Film Biz In 2026

Asia Pacific entertainment reached far and wide in 2025 and the impact could be even greater in 2026. Microdramas, anime and K-content were buzzwords on everyone’s lips this year, as Squid Game once again set records for Netflix and KPop Demon Hunter got the world singing. Theatrical remains challenged globally, but there were also notable successes in the region, some of which will continue into 2026. China’s box office bounced back and Indonesia made hay with animation Jumbo. Meanwhile, Japan saw record numbers for a live action film. Below, we identify six trends in the Asia Pacific region to watch out for this coming year.

Japan’s Moment To Continue

A moment is probably underplaying it a little. Japan has long been a cultural tastemaker around the world through the likes of One Piece and Studio Ghibli’s canon, but with Oscar contender Kokuho grossing a domestic live action record ¥18.2B ($117M) and Crunchyroll anime movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle becoming the biggest ever Japanese film at the box office last year with nearly $780M globally, the country feels hotter than ever. Meanwhile, the influence of Ghibli and anime on the likes of Neon’s Oscar hopeful Arco are clear to see. Keith Le Goy, sales and networks supremo at Crunchyroll’s Japanese-owned parent Sony, has even predicted anime will replace Marvel and D.C. as the key source of IP for films and TV shows in the future. Keep an eye on Godzilla Minus One outfit Toho’s new UK outpost, too. It’ll be fascinating to see how that evolves and whether the company expands further west than London.

Webnovels Craze Isn’t Going Anywhere

There’s a very good chance the next global breakout will emerge from the region’s flourishing digital medium, webnovels. Hailing from the Korean cultural wave, webcomic and webnovel platforms allow readers around the world to view highly-stylized stories on their phones, computers and tablets – for a price. Wattpadd, in particular, has proven fertile ground for TV, film or podcast adaptations, so expect more aggressive marketing of the platform’s biggest titles. Consider Prime Video’s ultra-popular Culpables movie trilogy first found success on Wattpadd, the romance-led reading app that’s part of South Korean-American platform Webtoon. The novels’ author, Mercedes Ron, is now one of the hottest creators on the planet with a major Amazon deal locked in place.

‘KPop Demon’ Sequels

KPop Demon Hunters was this year’s cultural mega-hit for kids. The Netflix pic from Korean-Canadian writer Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans had children (and their parents) around the world singing “Up, up, up!” at the top of their lungs — song Golden has amassed more than 950M views on Youtube. At the most recent count, the movie itself had wracked up 500 million streaming views, making it easily Netflix’s most-watched original title. A sequel is planned for 2029, but in today’s million-miles-an-hour world, producer Sony and Netflix will surely have to fill the gap with other entries or spinoffs (a musical has been speculated) in the meantime or risk others taking its space in the cultural zeitgeist. Merchandising is moving quickly with toys, costumes and yoto cards all in demand. More broadly, K Pop continues to cut a global swathe, with multiple bands still in vogue and the subject inspiring upcoming movies for Paramount and starry indie pic Perfect Girl.

Australia‘s Streaming Market Heating Up

Global streamers are facing a new reality in Australia after hotly-debated content quotas were ratified, ordering them to spend 10% of their total Australian expenditure – or 7.5% of their revenues – on local originals. Producers hope the rules will guarantee business in a fast-growing streaming market and reduce reliance on overseas productions to keep their doors open, but it’s not yet known if Netflix, HBO Max and co will get in the spirit of things or begin pulling back. In other countries with levies and similar diktats, streamers have shown caution, but their local ambitions may supersede reservations – Australia has provided hits such as The Artful Dodger, Colin From Accounts and The Newsreader in recent years. The market continues to be a fertile ground for foreign shoots and local producing, directing and acting talent. Established players such as Bruna Papandrea and See-Saw continue to generate buzzy local titles for streamers and broadcasters alike. Amazon’s brilliant The Narrow Road To The Deep North scored a Golden Globe nomination but probably didn’t get the attention it deserved in the U.S. Meanwhile, Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk To Me), Kiah Roache-Turner (Beast Of War), Charles Williams (Inside) and Gabrielle Brady (The Wolves Always Come at Night) are among the next gen of buzzed about Australian filmmakers.

Social Media Blocks

We’re staying in Australia, which has become a uniquely interesting place for internet-related matters. Though their parents might be rejoicing, the country’s under 16s may be suffering social-media separation anxiety after a law to block their access came into being – so much so that a pair of teenagers and the Digital Freedom Project are suing the government, claiming the law infringes free speech and is unconstitutional. Since the rules kicked in on December 10, major platforms have primarily abided, though Reddit is taking its issues legal and Australian media reports Google has threatened to sue. If the law proves successful (and anecdotally so many we’ve spoken to are in favour of it), you can assume some other governments will look into replicating Australia’s measures as concerns over social media’s corrosive impact on young people continue to grow.

New Players In Animation

In April, Indonesian animated film Jumbo became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animation of all time. The unexpected breakout hit sat alongside Ne Zha 2 — the Chinese mega-smash that booked well over $2B at the global box office (and helped propel China’s box office to $7BN+ for 2025, more than 20% ahead of 2024) — as reminders that animation in Asia’s isn’t solely the domain of Japan and Korea, as it sometimes seems. Animation financing is challenged in much of Asia – the same is true for most countries around the world – but the team at Jumbo producer Visinema Studios wants the film about an orphaned boy who inherits a magical storybook to act as the springboard for a new power player in the region. With a population nearing 300 million, the country has the potential to kick on. The government is currently exploring the viability of incentives for film and TV as it looks to strengthen the creative economy, and it is preparing a new film financing mechanism aimed at protecting intellectual property.

Andreas Wiseman contributed to this report.