Having just canceled its 21st original series of the year before the end of July, it’s clear that Netflix is growing increasingly ruthless when it comes to ditching content that doesn’t play with audiences, leaving the upcoming live-action adaptation of beloved manga One Piece in an interesting position.
The source material has a massive fanbase, of that there’s no doubt, but the disaster that was the streaming service’s Cowboy Bebop showcased just how badly such wildly popular inspirations can be mangled, with the vastly expensive offering being canceled three weeks after it premiered to poor reviews and a scathing reception from its target demographic.
At a reported cost of $18 million per episode, the eight installments of One Piece combine to set the company back an eye-watering $144 million, but it releases on August 31 and there hasn’t even been so much as a trailer yet. Fortunately, that looks as though it’s about to change.
Small screen veteran Marc Jobst – who helms the first two episodes and also serves as an executive producer on One Piece – has teased that the maiden promo isn’t far away.
There’s no way of telling how One Piece is going to fare other than the ironclad guarantee it’ll enjoy a strong first weekend as all effects-heavy episodic blockbusters tend to do whenever they arrive on Netflix. The streamer’s track record with both big budget fantasy and anime adaptations is spotty to say the least, so it could genuinely go either way.
A trailer would be nice, though, just so subscribers can start to formulate some expectations.