Five weeks in and Netflix’s live-action “One Piece” is still rocking it high in the streamer’s weekly Top 10 with nearly 58 million views to date.
Now in his first post-strike interview for the series, writer/executive producer/co-showrunner Matt Owens has spoken with Deadline about the series’ launch and success both critically and commercially, along with the quick renewal order and what future plans are for the show.
First up, he has confirmed that writing for the second season has resumed following the end of the writer’s strike with the writer’s room re-opening this week.
Progress isn’t as far along as previously reported. He says they did start the second season writers room before the strike and “didn’t get much further than starting to plan out what the season is going to be and got a couple of outlines done.”
That means there aren’t actually any scripts for the season that are complete so it’s still going to take some time. But with the writer’s room now open, scripts are getting worked on so that they can get into “design work, scheduling and pre-production”.
Owens also confirms Captain Smoker, glimpsed in the post-credits scene, will be a “major antagonist moving forward in the story” as the character pops up repeatedly in the manga at various points.
Asked about getting Jamie Lee Curtis onboard as Doctor Kureha, he says that as of right now there have not been real conversations due to the actor’s strike. However:
“As soon as there can be, I’m ready. I will take her out to dinner, we’ll talk about it. We’ll do all of it because at this point we’re writing for her – we really, really want her to come and play with us in Season 2.”
Whilst the first season was about assembling the crew, the second season will have a theme about the challenge of leadership and responsibilities that come with it.
Asked about how long they can go with the show, Owens says he hopes to continue until Netflix says ‘enough’:
“I want to go as long as we can. There’s a lot of source material. And while I do — just because I’m so obsessive not just with One Piece but planning in general — I do have ideas of what future seasons can be, what will be included in them, how we can, on a macro level, structure some things just because of the wealth of material that we have. I will make this show until Netflix says no more.”
Talking about the show’s success, he says one of the most rewarding elements is that people who aren’t into anime are loving it.
Finally, he also says no casting for the second season has taken place as yet and conversations are still happening about production scheduling with the actor’s strike ongoing. As the trade points out though, ideally the aim would be to shoot early next year with outdoor filming in South Africa hoping to get as much done before their winter (June-August).
Source: Deadline
