Netflix hasn't yet announced whether or not more of its live-action One Piece is on the way, but should the streaming platform give the greenlight, its producers are ready to roll.
Marty Adelstein, the CEO of One Piece production company Tomorrow Studios, told Variety in a recent interview that “we’ve got the scripts ready” for Season 2. Additionally, once the ongoing Hollywood actors’ strike is resolved, fans may not have to wait too long to see those scripts brought to life if it’s renewed.
“Realistically, hopefully, a year away, if we move very quickly, and that is a possibility,” Tomorrow Studios president Becky Clements added. “Somewhere between a year and 18 months, we could be ready for air.”
A year or so is pretty typical in TV production time for a show with as many special effects as One Piece – but, of course, the caveat of the strike is an important one. Even with completed scripts, One Piece wouldn’t be able to begin production while members of SAG-AFTRA remain on the picket lines, fighting for a better contract with the AMPTP.
And we still don’t know if Netflix will even renew One Piece anyway, but at least its opening viewership was pretty solid. According to Netflix’s own numbers, the adaptation garnered 140 million hours viewed and 18.5 million “views” (the self-imposed metric by which the streaming platform ranks its weekly Top 10 list) in the four days following its Aug. 28 premiere. That points to a much stronger debut than its other live-action anime adaptation Cowboy Bebop, which Netflix decided to not move forward with a mere three weeks after its premiere.
Similarly, it's likely Netflix will monitor One Piece’s viewership over the next few weeks before deciding whether or not to renew it. Even Wednesday, which was a massive runaway hit for the company, didn’t officially announce a second season until a little over a month after its debut.
For more on the live-action One Piece in the meantime, check out fans’ speculation over what a live-action Chopper could look like, as well as our breakdown of the biggest changes from the source material.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
