Building the ‘One Piece’ Live-Action TV Series: How Netflix Earned Eiichiro Oda’s Blessing to Turn a Manga Treasure Into Streaming Gold
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business Writer The breakout popularity of “Stranger Things” and “Wednesday” was a boon for Netflix execs, but also a lesson — both forced a scramble to line up marketing and licensing deals after launch.
If the streamer’s upcoming fantasy-adventure series “One Piece” similarly turns into a phenom — as the early hype indicates — this time they’ll be ready.
Of all the titles promoted out of Netflix’s June 17 Tudum fan event, “One Piece” — the live-action TV series adaptation of the bestselling manga — was the most talked about, outpacing everything else featured at the São Paulo affair four to one, according to Netflix. “One Piece” lead actor Iñaki Godoy has seen his Instagram following spike from 28,000 to 450,000 ahead of the show’s Aug.
31 premiere. “I think we were all stunned, truly stunned,” Netflix head of U.S. and Canada scripted series Peter Friedlander told Variety. “We knew that there was a big fan base, but to watch those actors step out onstage, you could barely hear anything.
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