Netflix is releasing a live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s renowned manga. Tomorrow Studios, the studio behind Netflix’s now-cancelled Cowboy Bebop adaption, is producing the series. Here’s the latest on everything we know so far about One Piece on Netflix, after more than two years since the series was first announced.
One Piece is arguably one of the most popular and well-known manga franchises of all time. Since its first appearance in an issue of Weekly Shnen Jump on July 22, 1997, the manga has been published in 969 chapters and 95 volumes, with more on the way.
With over 462 million copies sold, One Piece is the most popular manga of all time, outselling Dragon Ball, Golgo 13, and Naruto. This also makes One Piece one of the most successful fictional franchises of all time, with over $21 billion in income generated throughout its many mangas, films, video games, and other forms of products.
What is the One Piece plot?
One Piece is set in an alternate version of Earth that is now experiencing the ‘Golden Age of Pirates.’ The seas are ruled by ruthless cutthroat pirates, and only the strongest have a chance to claim the legendary riches known as ‘One Piece,’ which was left behind by the greatest pirate of all time, Gol D. Roger. Years after Gol D. Roger’s death, a small kid named Monkey D. Luffy dreams of forming his own crew, discovering One Piece, and proclaiming himself Pirate King.
Luffy has great strength and agility after eating a devil fruit that grants him the ability to turn his body into rubber. Luffy sets sail from Foosha Village in East Blue when he reaches the age of majority and embarks on his epic voyage to become the next Pirate King.
Who is behind the Netflix series One Piece?
Tomorrow Studios, as previously stated, is the series’ main production firm. Hanna for Prime Video and Snowpiercer for TNT are two of their famous efforts. Of course, the production business is also working on a Netflix version of Cowboy Bebop. This brings us to the showrunner for the series.
The showrunner for One Piece will be Steven Maeda. Throughout his long career, he has appeared in shows such as The X Files, Lost, Lie to Me, Helix, and Day Break.
One Piece Netflix adaption cast
Casting grids revealed some of the characters who will appear and their ages before the cast was announced, including:
“Luffy – Age 17, Hispanic/Latino
Zoro – Age 18, Asian
Nami – Age 19, Any Ethnicity
Usopp – Age 17, Black
Sanji – Age 19, Any Ethnicity
Garp – Age 55-79, Any Ethnicity
Koby – Age 16, Any Ethnicity”
The first set of One Piece castings arrived in November 2021. While the first round of castings is covered in detail elsewhere, here’s a rundown of the big castings:
- Iñaki Godoy will play Monkey D. Luffy
- Mackenyu will play Roronoa Zoro
- Jacob Gibson will play Usopp
- Emily Rudd will play Nami
- Taz Skylar will play Sanji
In March 2022, the cast was enlarged by six extra individuals.
- Morgan Davies (they/them) will play Koby
- Ilia Isorelýs Paulino will play Alvida
- Aidan Scott will play Helmeppo
- Jeff Ward will play Buggy
- McKinley Belcher III will play Arlong
- Vincent Regan will play Garp
When does it come out on Netflix?
Filming had been planned for a long time, and if not for the global pandemic, production would have begun in the summer of 2020. We’ve experienced many delays and fake filming start dates since then.
The majority of the filming is taking place at Cape Town Film Studios, which has plenty of room for the pirate ships. According to a source close to the production, three pirate ships have been built so far for the programme.
Reports surfaced in September 2021 that the crew was preparing to begin filming.
Steven Maeda tweeted in early October 2021 that he had arrived in Cape Town (where the series is set to film).
According to numerous production listings, filming began in February 2022, with the show expected to end on July 10th, 2022.