Prime Video Is Rebooting The Iconic Tekashi’s Castle

Get your knee pads ready as Prime Video is set to reboot the iconic game show Takeshi’s Castle.

The Japanese game show, which aired on the terrestrial network Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from 1986 to 1989, will see a reboot titled ‘Takeshi’s Castle Project’ and will premiere in more than 240 markets next year, according to the The Independent.

For those unfamiliar with the series, the unscripted game show was hosted by beloved Japanese comedian and presenter Takeshi Kitano aka Beat Takeshi.

He starred as a count who owned a castle and set up various complex physical tasks for contestants to get him.

Takeshi’s Castle is getting a new version on Amazon Prime Video in 2023 pic.twitter.com/QMvzho9QYf

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In each episode, there was a ‘Final Showdown’, where the remaining contestants would compete against Takeshi and his henchmen.

The game show gathered a cult following, with many game shows spawned to emulate Japanese series.

There have also been many international versions of Takeshi’s Castle, with fans calling for the show to be rebooted as well.

In 2010, a campaign was launched by fansite Keshi Heads, who attempted to bring back the show to coincide with its 10th anniversary.

While Takeshi’s Castle Rebooted premiered in March 2013, many fans were left disappointed and complained about Craig Charles’ voiceover for the new series.

Comedy Central aired the series from 2017 to 2019, replacing Charles with Top Gear presenter Jonathan Ross. They also used footage taken from Indonesian and Thai versions.

According to Variety, the announcement of the new reboot at Amazon’s Tokyo event also followed the news of a Japanese adaptation of Modern Love.

The romantic comedy anthology series originally starred Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel, Catherine Keener, Tina Fey and Andy Garcia.

Prime Video also announced the adventure-comedy series My Undead Yokai Girlfriend, a movie adaptation of Ryota Kosawa’s bestselling novel; season two of The Masked Singer and The Bachelorette Japan, which will be released later this year. 

Additionally, Bake Off Japan will hit small screens on April 22 and will feature judges Toshihiko Yoroizuka and Yoshimi Ishikawa.

Maki Sakai and Asuka Kudo will also host the show.