On the 3rd September, it was announced that the live-action drama series of the popular manga “ONE PIECE” will be distributed exclusively worldwide by the video distribution service NETFLIX. Eiichiro Oda, the author of the original story, will serve as the executive producer.
There have been many offers for live-action film adaptations in the past, but this project was the first to come to fruition because Mr. Oda and the editorial department of Weekly Shonen Jump were confident that they could overcome the various hurdles. Currently, actors are being cast for both domestic and international roles, and filming will begin in the near future. The release date will be announced in the future.
The film is produced by NETFLIX in partnership with Tomorrow Studios and Shueisha. In addition, the script and executive producer is Matt Owens, who worked for film producer J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot and produced “Agents of SHIELD”. The script, showrunner, and executive producer, Steven Maeda, will also be joined by staff from famous international shows such as the popular drama “Lost”.
The tentative title of the first episode will be “ROMANCE DAWN -The Dawn of Adventure-“, just like the first episode of the first volume of the original manga, was also revealed on the cover of the script that was released. The logo for the live-action version, which was created based on the image of the original logo, was also revealed. The letter “O” depicts the live-action trademark of the “Straw Hat Gang,” and the scar under the left eye of the main character Luffy is also reflected. And if you look closely, you can even see a Luffy-like figure on his nose, adding to the anticipation.
The total number of copies sold of the manga has surpassed 490 million worldwide, with the 100th volume of the comic to be released on the 3rd and the 1000th episode of the anime to be broadcast on November 21st.
