Nippon TV takes a film version of TV crime drama, The Last Cop, to theatres in Japan in May, driving even further the multi-platform agenda that has so far straddled free-to-air broadcast and SVOD streaming.

Based on hit German series, Der Letzte Bulle, by ITV Studios in association with Red Arrow International, The Last Cop tells the story of a detective who wakes up from a coma after 30 years to a modern world that has completely changed.

Nippon TV was the first – and remains the only – broadcaster in Asia to pick up adaptation rights. In addition to its domestic success, the Japanese version aired on Nippon TV’s joint venture GEM channel with Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia across Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia. Rights were also sold in Taiwan and China.

The TV series actors – Toshiaki Karasawa (20th Century Boys, Toshiie and Matsu) and Masataka Kubota (Mars, Death Note) – reprise their TV roles as a rough-and-tumble duo that solves one heinous crime after another.

Nippon TV chose the format originally for its multi-platform potential, says producer Hiroyuki Ueno. “Since we were not looking for a drama series in the beginning, our focus was on finding a concept that our audience would understand instantly. In that sense, The Last Cop was a perfect match. I knew that its buddy cop dynamic that bridges generational gaps would resonate with the Japanese market,” he adds.

The decision to produce a theatrical version followed the success of the show on free-TV broadcast and SVOD platforms. Season one, which aired on Hulu in 2015, is credited with significantly driving subscription to the Nippon TV-owned platform. Season two aired in October 2016.

Ueno says the decision to produce the free-to-air series followed the success of the show on SVOD. “At that point, we realised that creating a theatrical version to add to the free-to-air and SVOD drama series would result in a much grander rollout that would benefit the entire portfolio,” he says.

Success in thickening the plot for season two also drove momentum for the theatrical effort, Ueno says. “We had already depicted everything that we wanted to in season one’s one-off special drama and SVOD drama series, so it was a challenge coming up with ways to add even more value to the content. Ultimately, we decided to thicken the plot by modifying the buddy relationship of Kosuke and Ryota and tweaking the story. The freshness that we offered was met with high acclaim from loyal and new viewers alike, adding more momentum for our theatrical endeavour.”

The film will, undoubtedly, build on awareness generated by the first two seasons, and marketing campaigns customised to drive tune-in to both. “While The Last Cop already had a lot of fans by the time we produced the free-to-air drama series, we wanted to address the viewers who would be watching it for the first time. We kicked off production keeping these two groups in mind,” he says.

He also emphasises a holistic integrated strategy built into the plan from the beginning. “Because this is a grand, long-term undertaking that contains a free-to-air and SVOD drama series as well as a theatrical version, we wanted to create a buzz that encompasses the project in its entirety,” he says.

That may include a third TV series. For now, no final decisions have been made.

Published on ContentAsia's Issue One 2017