The producers of Netflix’s surprisingly popular One Piece live-action series say scripts for a potential second season are done and the show could return on the streamer as early as next year.
In an interview with Variety, Marty Adelstein, the CEO of Tomorrow Studios (the folks who made the One Piece live-action series as well as Netflix’s swiftly canceled Cowboy Bebop live-action series) confirmed that, “We’ve got scripts ready.” The caveat, however, is that production of a possible second season of the One Piece live-action series can’t start until Hollywood’s SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved.
“Realistically, hopefully, a year away, if we move very quickly, and that is a possibility,” Becky Clements, president of Tomorrow Studios, told Variety. “Somewhere between a year and 18 months, we could be ready for air.”
Read More: Netflix’s One Piece Live-Action Series Delivers More Than It Disappoints
A faithful and charming live-action anime adaptation, the Netflix series has become something of an anomaly in the anime community since its August 31 premiere: a rare success story. It debuted as the top show on the streamer with 18.5 million views—a feat Clements says “exceeded” Netflix’s expectations.
“I think [Netflix is] looking at various situations about how many episodes they do, do they break them up?” Adelstein said. “I think they’re trying to figure that out this week. I suspect we’ll hear from them in the next week to two weeks. There seems to be a big impetus to keep this going and to come up with a long-term strategy. So we’re just waiting for that.”
Adelstein told Variety that a potential second season of Netflix’s One Piece series needs to expand its audience beyond just existing fans of the series, a process he said the first season had already started.
“We’re getting a lot of family viewing and that is really the key, is to bring in the non-fans and people who aren’t aware of the IP because the show stands on its own and you get people to watch it and people really love it,” Adelstein said.
In our review of Netflix’s One Piece, we said the show “is one of the rare well-made live-action anime adaptations” that is “full of heart, from its vibrant set and wardrobe designs to the disarmingly charming found-family dynamic that the live-action crew so effectively exudes.”