After ‘Heated Rivalry’ Phenomenon, Canal+ Distribution Is Bringing the Original Thai Boys’ Love Catalog to the U.S.

It should come as no surprise that with the success of one particular series (that being Heated Rivalry), a sea of projects are soon to follow in order to capitalize on what would be considered a "popular trend."

via: Variety

Canal+ Distribution is bringing the Viu Originals Boys’ Love catalog to the U.S., with Thai titles including “The Rebound,” “4 Minutes,” “Shadow” and “Close Friend” having already attracted interest from major American streaming platforms.

Boys’ Love, also known as BL, is a genre of male romantic stories that originated in Japan and expanded across Asia over the past two decades. The move follows the U.S. breakout of “Heated Rivalry,” the Canadian hockey romance that drew on Boys’ Love genre conventions to become a phenomenon on HBO Max — and in doing so, opened a mainstream American audience to BL storytelling.

“The U.S. market didn’t discover Boys’ Love through ‘Heated Rivalry,'” says Francheska León de la Barra, VP marketing and communications at Canal+ Distribution. “The demand was already here. We’re just finally bringing the original catalog to meet it.”

Viu is one of Southeast Asia’s largest streaming platforms with 62 million monthly active users. Thailand now produces between 30 and 40 BL series annually, up from fewer than 10 a decade ago. Parrot Analytics data places select titles at demand levels more than 20 times the global average in Western markets, and the hashtag #BLSeries has accumulated over 20 billion views on TikTok.

“Canal+ Distribution has always been about identifying premium content before the mainstream conversation,” León de la Barra says. “Viu Originals represents exactly that: a library built on years of production expertise, with proven global demand and major streaming platforms already paying attention. The content understanding for Thai BL in the U.S. is being built right now, and we intend to be at the center of it.”

Among the catalog’s featured titles is “4 Minutes,” a 2024 series about a university student who acquires the ability to see four minutes into the future. “Shadow,” set in 1999 at Saint Lawrence’s College, follows a new student whose recurring sleep paralysis draws him toward secrets the school has long concealed. The anthology series “Close Friend,” spanning three installments from 2021 to 2024, weaves romance with supernatural elements across a series of standalone stories.

“What separates this content we are now bringing to the U.S. from the broader BL conversation is production ambition,” León de la Barra says. “Titles like ‘4 Minutes’ and ‘Shadow’ aren’t genre exercises. They bring science fiction, psychological thriller and even dark magic elements into stories that happen to center on male romance. That creative range is what makes this catalog relevant beyond the BL fandom.”

“The Rebound,” a 12-part 2024 series, centers on a teenage basketball team led by two best friends as one quietly grapples with feelings for the other. “The emotional intelligence in these series is what drives the loyalty,” she continues. “Audiences, particularly women, connect with BL because the focus is on vulnerability, chemistry and emotional complexity rather than traditional romantic tropes. ‘The Rebound’ isn’t a sports series, but is actually a piece about self-acceptance that uses basketball as the metaphor.”

The 2025 pipeline includes three additional titles: “Lost in the Woods,” about a young man sent into the forest after a failed scholarship bid who falls for an older park ranger living in isolation; “4 Destiny Project,” a four-director anthology; and “Season of Love in Shimane.”

“People ask why Thailand,” León de la Barra says. “The answer is everything happened in the same direction: impact on legislation, government investment in creative exports and a production community that understood before many that audiences everywhere connect with the same emotions. When you watch this catalog, you’re watching the output of that entire ecosystem.”