[HanCinema's News] "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" Proves to Be a Cautionary Tale for Major Distributors

This past August 18th saw the conclusion of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" on ENA. The legal drama smashed all expectations, opening with 0.948% ratings yet closing with an incredible 17.34%. All of the show's stars are now seen as hot commodities. So it's quite surprising to look back at the early production history of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and see that both SBS and Netflix passed on the opportunity to invest in the project.

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SBS had been considered the most likely possible distributor for "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and was the only network in contract negotiations for the first six months after the project was first announced last October. SBS has for some time been withdrawing from the drama production business, attempting to tighten their focus to likely hits. The quirky premise of a rookie autistic lawyer was one that the relevant executives didn't find convincing.

Yet another distributor with the exact opposite reputation passed on "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" as well. Netflix was the first company to be consulted when SBS talks completely broke down in April. Yet Netflix was also reluctant to pay for exclusive rights, most likely because "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" was already close to being finished while most Netflix exclusives have a long incubation period between being greenlit and finally appearing on the network.

Ultimately "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is still available on Netflix worldwide. But with no exclusive deal, Netfix is on the hook for licensing fees, and is making far less money from the drama than they could be. The production company A-STORY has, by contrast, earned a huge windfall, earning back double the drama's production costs in its first two weeks alone. SBS and Netflix are now left wondering just what happened that they missed out on sch an opportunity to an unknown upstart network like ENA.

Written by William Schwartz