‘One Piece’ Netflix Series: Launch Date & Everything We Are Aware So Far

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Picture: Netflix
August 2023 will mark the arrival of a live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s adored manga on Netflix. Tomorrow Studios are at the helm of the production, which was initially announced in January 2020 (they are the same production team behind Netflix’s now-defunct Cowboy Bebop adaptation). Here’s all that we have gathered so far about One Piece, including its release date, first-look trailer, cast, August 2023 release date, and more!
Please note that this preview has been continually updated to reflect changing details about the upcoming live-action series. The last update was made in June 2023 to incorporate the TUDUM updates. 

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When will One Piece debut on Netflix?
At Netflix TUDUM, Netflix confirmed our previous reports that One Piece season 1 will be globally released on Netflix on August 31st, 2023, alongside a first-look trailer.
Iñaki Godoy (Monkey D. Luffy), Mackenyu (Roronoa Zoro), Emily Rudd (Nami), Jacob Romero Gibson (Usopp), and Taz Skylar (Sanji) were all present at the event in Brazil.

Netflix first confirmed the series’ departure in 2023 in January of that year:

Also another first look at #OnePiece! pic.twitter.com/SoHaxcBiqz
— What’s on Netflix (@whatonNetflix) January 30, 2023

What is the plot of Netflix’s One Piece?
The events of One Piece unfold in an alternate version of Earth, during what is referred to as the ‘Golden Age of Pirates’. The seas are ruled by ruthless and cut-throat pirates, and only the strongest have a chance at claiming the mythical treasure known as ‘One Piece‘, which was left behind by the greatest pirate of them all, Gol D. Roger. Years after Gol D. Roger’s demise, a young boy by the name of Monkey D. Luffy aspires to gather his own crew, find One Piece, and declare himself as the Pirate King.
After consuming a devil fruit that gives Luffy the ability to stretch his body like rubber, he gains immense strength and agility. When Luffy comes of age, he sets sail from Foosha Village in East Blue, embarking on his grand adventure to become the next Pirate King.
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Who is behind Netflix’s One Piece series?
As mentioned earlier, the key production company behind the series is Tomorrow Studios. They are known for their work on projects such as Hanna for Prime Video and Snow Suit (Snow Wear SALE)piercer for TNT. Additionally, the production company is also preparing the live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop for Netflix.
This brings us to the showrunner for the series.
One Piece will be led by showrunner Steven Maeda. His extensive career includes involvement with titles like The X Files, Lost, Lie to Me, Helix, and Day Break.
Steven Madea representing a One Piece jumper
The writing staff for One Piece includes:

Diego Gutierrez
Matt Owens
Allison Weintraub
Ian Stokes
Lindsay Gelfand
Laura Jacqmin
Jason Cho
Damani Johnson
Tom Hyndman

The writers gathered for a virtual Zoom meeting in May 2020.
One Piece Writer’s Room – Picture: Steven Madea Instagram
Marc Jobst is expected to direct the first episode of One Piece. He has notable directorial credits on Netflix’s Daredevil, The Punisher, and The Witcher.

Where is One Piece in terms of production?
Filming faced significant delays.
Had it not been for the global pandemic, production would likely have started in the summer (Summer is here SALE) of 2020. Since then, there have been multiple delays and false filming start dates.
Most of the filming is taking place at Cape Town Film Studios, which provides ample space for the pirate ships. According to a source familiar with the production, three pirate ships have been built for the show so far.
Set details for One Piece
According to Steven Maeda, the original plan was to begin production in 2021.
“We have essentially completed all 10 scripts. We will begin casting when we resume. My estimate is June 1, but we will commence our casting. We have a lot of names in discussion, and we should be in production in September [2021] . We have been working in close collaboration with Sensei Oda. So, we’re getting started, and this is a massive undertaking. I mean,Snow Suit (Snow Wear SALE)piercer was a big production; this is even bigger.”
However, these plans seem to have been delayed, as fans began spotting ongoing production in February and March 2021.
Below are some behind-the-scenes snapshots we found online:

On September 3rd, 2021, Netflix officially unveiled the script for the first episode, titled “Romance Dawn,” written by Matt Owens and Steven Maeda.
One Piece Script for Episode 1
In September 2021, reports emerged about the crew preparing to start filming.
In early October 2021, Steven Maeda posted that he had arrived in Cape Town, where the series is set to film.
Filming eventually began in February 2022, with the show originally scheduled to wrap on July 10th, 2022, according to multiple production listings.
Throughout production, the series used the codename Project Panda and was also referred to as Project Roger.

pic.twitter.com/yPaKYFYIzx
— ONE PIECE Netflix FAN (@OP_Netflix_Fan) March 25, 2022

During the first month of production, the President of South Africa released a press statement about the show, stating, “One Piece is Netflix’s biggest production project in Africa to date – both in terms of scale and budget, covering South African labor, infrastructure, and suppliers.” He further added:
“One Piece, which is set in Cape Town, involves more than 50 South African cast members; more than 1,000 crew member jobs (consisting of 67% previously disadvantaged individuals and 46% youth employees), as well as an Academy of Creative Excellence (ACE) mentorship program for more than 30 young creatives and technicians in collaboration with the SA Film Academy during 2022.”
On May 8th, 2022, director Marc Jobst announced that filming for the first two episodes had been completed on May 7th.
In a follow-up Tweet, Jobst said:
“Farewell South Africa. Land of sunshine, hard work, little creatures that visit each day, and mountains that every day took my breath away. Thank you to the incredibly talented crew that helped bring this show to life. Now on to the next stage…the cut.”

4 of the Hats with me the day after wrap on eps 1&2Epic shoot. Wow! WOW!The most funny, talented, big-hearted, beautiful people who you will fall in love and who will BLOW YOU AWAY! @onepieceNetflix pic.twitter.com/cbHFgtEUUQ
— Marc Jobst (@marcjobst1) May 8, 2022

As revealed in an interview with KFTV, Netflix’s One Piece will feature multiple underwater segments:
“Netflix’s forthcoming pirate adventure series, One Piece – We have been filming at Cape Town Film Studios in the deep-water tank. There are various scenes that require VFX elements, and scenes with key actors underwater.
The Frog Squad is a one-stop-shop for these sequences, working hand-in-hand with the stunt team and creatives. We provide the dive supervisor, commercial divers, water safety, and underwater camera team. Frog Squad also provides the underwater cameras, underwater comms, diving equipment, as well as the working platforms underwater.
We spent weeks training the various cast for the sequences, making sure they are comfortable and able to work on SCUBA. The training included the doubles and the younger cast as well.
Producer Chris Symes always leads from the front, giving his crew the tools and manpower required to achieve the scheduled work. We have been shooting with the Alexa Mini LF and custom-made lenses for the show.”
At Netflix’s Geeked Week in June 2022, we were given our very first glimpse of some of the sets and concept art for the series, along with an introduction by actor Iñaki Godoy and showrunners Steven Maeda and Matt Owens:
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Filming for the series concluded on August 22nd, 2022, with several cast members sharing the news on social media.
Taz Skylar posted on Instagram:
“And just like that…I’m done. Thank you @onepieceNetflix for the opportunity to push myself beyond what I thought was possible. When I first entered this massive new chapter, I was struggling A LOT with my mental health. I didn’t really know which way was up or where I stood in the mix of all of this. But now I’m on the other side. I feel reborn as an adult, as someone who knows who they are, what they can do, and exactly where they’re going.”
Emily Rudd posted:
“What a wild and wonderful almost-year this has been, y’all. I am so full of gratitude and big, juicy Ghibli-style tears. Thank you @onepieceNetflix and everyone involved for making this one of the most special experiences of my life and career. And thank you to all of you for trusting and supporting me in bringing our girl to life. This dream role was a much bigger dream than I could have ever imagined. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Love u.”

One Piece themed cocktails at Season 1 Wrap Party. pic.twitter.com/7IxilNPS18
— ONE PIECE Netflix FAN (@OP_Netflix_Fan) August 24, 2022

Cast for One Piece Netflix adaptation

This section features all the announced cast members. For more details on the actors and actresses who will appear in the series, head on over to our comprehensive cast guide for Netflix’s One Piece.
Before the cast was announced, casting grids revealed some characters and their age ranges, 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.”
In November 2021, the first round of castings for One Piece was announced.
For a detailed breakdown of the initial castings, refer to our separate article. Here’s an overview of the main castings:

Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy
Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro
Emily Rudd as Nami
Jacob Gibson as Usopp
Taz Skylar as Sanji

In an interview with Vanity Teen, Iñaki Godoy spoke about playing the lead character in the series, stating:
“To portray a character like Luffy is one of the greatest honors of my career, and I know that this experience will stay with me forever, regardless of the outcome.”

Here are some of the wanted poster images that were in the now-deleted Tweet! pic.twitter.com/n7vT8N960a
— What’s on Netflix (@whatonNetflix) November 9, 2021

The cast was expanded in March 2022 with an additional 6 cast members:

Morgan Davies (they/them) as Koby
Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida
Aidan Scott as Helmeppo
Jeff Ward as Buggy
McKinley Belcher III as Arlong
Vincent Regan as Garp

Additionally, we know:

Peter Gadiot as Shanks
Sven Ruygrok as Cabaji
Len-Barry Simons as Chu
Richard Wright-Firth as Petty Officer Ukkari
Jean Henry as Fullbody
Colton Osorio as Young Luffy

At Netflix’s 2022 Geeked Week, more cast announcements were made for One Piece, adding a total of 6 new cast members:

Langley Kirkwood as CAPTAIN MORGAN
Celeste Loots as KAYA
Alexander Maniatis as KLAHADORE
Craig Fairbrass as CHEF ZEFF
Steven Ward as MIHAWK
Chioma Umeala as NOJIKO

One Piece Geeked Week Cast Announcements

How many episodes will there be in season 1 of One Piece?
When the show was first announced, ten episodes were confirmed. Maeda later confirmed that there are “10 scripts.”
It is worth mentioning the rumors suggesting that One Piece will be reduced to eight episodes. A casting sheet reported by Murphy’s Multiverse indicated that there would be eight episodes instead of the originally planned ten. With the revealed episode titles, we can confirm that the count has indeed been set at 8.
The episode titles are as follows:

Romance Dawn
The Man in the Straw Hat
Tell No Tales
The Pirates Are Coming
Eat At Baratie!
The Chef and the Chore Boy
The Girl with the Sawfish Tatoo
Worst in the East

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Will there be a season 2 of One Piece?
As mentioned earlier, a live-action adaptation can cover an immense amount of source material.
With the anime currently standing at 1030 episodes (as of August 2022), it is unlikely that the live-action adaptation will have the same episode count.
If subsequent seasons are in the works, we can expect to see plenty of filler material skipped and the storylines of arcs condensed.
While the idea of cutting any of the One Piece stories may be sacrilegious, it is practically impossible for a live-action series to cover 95 volumes of manga in just a few seasons. Each season may cover a specific ‘Saga’ with a selection of story arcs.
The first season of the live-action adaptation will focus on the recruitment of Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, culminating in Luffy’s battle against Arlong.

Are you eagerly anticipating the live-action One Piece series on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!

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