‘Tokyo Vice’ Season 2 Filming Complete, Terrence Malick ‘Very Happy’ With ‘The Way of the Wind,’ Producer Alex Boden Confirms (EXCLUSIVE)
The keenly awaited Season 2 of Max’s “Tokyo Vice” completed principal photography just before the Hollywood strikes and is now in post-production, producer Alex Boden tells Variety. Auteur Terrence Malick’s biblical drama “The Way of the Wind” is being edited.
Season 1 of “Tokyo Vice,” which followed a Western journalist working for a publication in Tokyo who takes on one of the city’s most powerful crime bosses, bowed in 2022. It was created by J.T. Rogers and starred Ken Watanabe, Ansel Elgort, Rachel Keller and Rinko Kikuchi. The season ended on a cliffhanger and Boden says that Season 2 will answer all questions eventually.
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Boden says that the post-production process on the show is a lengthy one and he hopes that the strike will be resolved in time for the cast to promote it. “We’re all hoping for a resolution to the strikes for everyone’s sake, for everyone who’s impacted by them,” Boden says. “I’m hoping that we will be able to release when everyone’s able to promote and be part of the launch. Everyone involved is so proud of the work that they’ve done on this unique show — the writers, of course, but also the actors, we’ve got Ansel Elgort and Rachel Keller, who both spent a lot of time and energy learning Japanese and now speak really good Japanese. So it’d be a shame to have any kind of promotion without being able to celebrate that kind of commitment.”
Boden says that there are “many possibilities for future seasons,” and a decision will be made on continuing the series after Season 2 launches. Season 2 will have 10 episodes.
“In Wowow we have a co-production partner in Japan, which is very rare, who’ve come on and supported the show through seasons 1 and 2. So there’s a real belief in the show in Japan, and certainly a hunger to keep the story continuing,” Boden says.
“Tokyo Vice” is globally distributed by Fifth Season.
On the other hand, Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind” is a retelling of several episodes in the life of Jesus Christ, with a cast that includes Géza Röhrig, Mark Rylance, Joseph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley and Matthias Schoenaerts.
‘It’s very much in the edit room at the moment and the filming is completed,” Boden says. “We have an amazing cast. It’s another Terrence Malick project, which was filmed this time in several different countries. From a production point of view, it’s a pretty fantastic achievement. Terry is very happy with what he is working on so far is the word, but there’s no announcements yet.”
Boden also produced the Wachowski’s film “Cloud Atlas” and series “Sense8.” The latter was filmed with 37 different units, in 17 different cities and countries, across five continents. “The ability to create something genuinely new and bold that connects with people in so many different countries and cultures is so special, and ‘Sense8’ really pulled this off,” Boden says.
“Sense8,” initially planned to be a five-season show, ended after two seasons with an epic two and a half hour finale. “We were all, of course, disappointed that the story might be cut short, but the door was always open, intentionally,” Boden says. “It’d be great to continue that story as well.”
Boden is the outgoing chair of the Production Guild of Great Britain and recently stepped down after four years in the role, while remaining on the board. The producer describes his tenure as eventful, during which the U.K. attracted record inward investment in film and high-end TV. Boden was an advocate in the drive to set up studios all around the U.K., not just in London and the south, and also spearheaded training and EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) initiatives.
“We’ve been looking to the broadest possible outreach for new crews to join our industry. And it’s such a great time to do that, because it ties so well to our work in EDI and our push for a more diverse workforce across production in the U.K. film and TV industry, because we are in a position where we are welcoming crew with open arms,” Boden says. “Now the challenge is, of course, let’s make sure we keep them in the industry, and set them up for success in the future. That’s one of the highlights of the last few years for me personally.”
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