After a long wait, it looks like the upcoming One Piece live-action adaptation is slowly nearing a production start. We’re still waiting for any news regarding its take on the iconic manga from 1997. There are some concerns that the cartoony world created by Eiichiro Oda might not work in live-action. Netflix has recently promoted its Cowboy Bebop series by recreating the iconic opening, which does look quite fateful. So, there’s some hope for this project, especially with the original creator supervising it.
Still, we know very little about the series. We were recently able to confirm that Marc Jobst would direct the pilot episode. It is now working under the production name “Project Panda.” It was a surprising change, as it initially was known as “Project Roger.” A recent Instagram story by showrunner Steven Madea‘s assistant Steven Cho revealed that he received some items in South Africa for the production. What sticks out is that the mailing includes the name “Afrika Project Panda Pty Ltd.” that we reported recently. It also includes the filming location at Cape Town Film Studios, where Raised by Wolves, Mad Max: Fury Road, and many more come from.
It looks like whatever was delivered is required for the Studio 1. As the team is slowly moving its production to South Africa, it’s safe to assume that they are gearing up for production. It, hopefully, is also a sign we might get some casting news shortly. So far, we’ve only heard rumors that Ludi Lin is potentially up for the role of Zoro. Yet, we haven’t heard anything about the other Straw Hat pirates outside of Steven Maeda and his team staying true to their descriptions by Oda. The adaptation of East Blue will offer some iconic and easily recognizable characters from the franchise’s earliest outing. Here’s hoping we get a look at our favorite pirate crew and the Merry.
