Amazon Prime Video has acquired the global streaming rights to Islanders, an ambitious Taiwanese drama series set to premiere worldwide on July 18.
Co-helmed by Singaporean filmmaker Ler Jiyuan (Invisible Stories) and Taiwanese theater director Tsai Pao-Chang, the eight-part series blends sharp social commentary with cinematic flair, according to the producers. Based on the award-winning novel Islands by Lolita Hu, the show traces the unraveling of a powerful businessman whose web of romantic relationships is exposed after a dinner party argument goes viral. As his scandal consumes the nation’s attention, his loyal assistant begins to reevaluate her place in a society transformed by social media, shifting cultural norms and emotional alienation.
Set against the backdrop of early 2010s Taipei, Islanders stars Golden Horse and Golden Bell Award winner Wu Kang-Jen, Southeast Asian icon Christopher Lee, Taipei Film Awards honoree Rima Zeidan, and veteran actress Yu Tzu-Yu. Japanese actor Yusuke Fukuchi also appears in a notable supporting role.
Shot on location in Taiwan, New York and Alaska, the series has a production scale and cross-cultural scope that’s uncommonly ambitious for a Taiwanese drama.
In addition to its Prime Video debut, Islanders will stream in Taiwan on Catchplay+ and Line TV, and in Hong Kong via Now TV. It will also air weekly on the Catchplay Movie Channel.
Produced by Screenworks Asia, the production arm of regional streamer Catchplay+, Islanders is the second Taiwanese title after The World Between Us: After the Flames to secure a global release on Prime Video.
