One Piece,the live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Odas best-selling manga,just wrapped its second week at No.
1 in Netflixs Top 10with another dominating performance internationally.
Both Becky and I have been involved in a lot of successful shows.
Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements (L to R) Taz Skylar as Sanji, Mackenyu Arata as Roronoa Zoro, Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as UsoppNetflix/Courtesy
), and revealed how Adelsteins involvement inPrison Breakhelped him land the rights toOnce Piece.
ADELSTEIN: It was not totally unexpected, because we really loved the series.
DEADLINE:What is the best validation you have seen from fans?
One PieceNetflix
DEADLINE:Marty, you have longtime ties to Japan, you have been traveling there regularly for years.
Talk about your history with the anime genre and how it led toOne Piece?
And finally we broke through.
Especially with Asia and Japan, you cant do anything on the phone.
You have to show up in person face to face.
Its very important to that culture.
DEADLINE:Cowboy Bebopwas the live-action anime adaptation that you referenced earlier.
Obviously Netflix had faith in you, trusting you with another anime-based series.
What are some of the lessons you learned from that experience that you applied toOne Piece?
Heres what we learned.
You have to have a buy-in from the creator.
The creator ofCowboy Bebopdid not want anything to do with it.
But I think the main lesson wasCowboy Bebopwas an adaptation.
How you assembled the Straw Hat crew, and what was the hardest part to cast?
And when we saw Inaki, it was unanimous.
He has, as a human, this great spirit, this enthusiasm the way he approached the role.
Once we got Inaki, we could breathe.
And he pulled it off.
Showrunner-creator Matt Owens has known Emily Rudd for years, and shes a big anime fan.
Each of these actors live their lives in a very direct, present, interesting way.
DEADLINE:How many young actors did you see for Luffy?
CLEMENTS: Definitely over 100, from all corners of the world.
We really tried to stay true to the backstory.
the origin of all the characters that Oda created; we were focused on supporting that.
DEADLINE:What was Inakis reaction when you told him that he got the role?
CLEMENTS: I believe he screamed, he definitely laughed.
He was on Zoom with us, he thanked everyone, he said he will give it his all.
DEADLINE:A world-building show likeOne Pieceis a major undertaking.
What were the biggest production challenges in Season 1?
The crew in South Africa is incredible.
DEADLINE:For both of you, what is your favorite scene from Season 1?
The turn in his character at that moment really got to me.
We have hopes for 12 seasons, theres so much material.
It really could go on and on and on.
DEADLINE:But do you have at least six seasons in you?
CLEMENTS: Oh yeah, easy.
DEADLINE:You mentioned plans you have with Matt Owens.
What can you say about them and the path for the next few seasons?
So that really is the start in breaking future seasons.
It will require a lot of conversations, but we feel lucky to have the roadmap.
What part of the manga might you be tackling next and what new villains can we expect?
BTW, why doesnt anybody die on the show?
I feel so far there have no major deaths, villains just keep coming back.
CLEMENTS: I actually think we do have death but we just dont linger on it.
One of the parts ofOne Piecethat is so original are the villains.
DEADLINESo that final scene was something you filmed later?
CLEMENTS: Yeah, that was in our pickup in March.
DEADLINE.AOne Pieceseason takes about 6-7 months of production and another 20-24 weeks of post-production.
The strikes are still ongoing, you mentioned the weather in South Africa.
CLEMENTS:I dont know what Netflix is thinking.
It would benefit us to move more quickly.
CLEMENTS: Yes, we did.
We brought our composers on really early, they didThe Witcherfor Netflix.
They were really terrific at finding musically the discordant moments or the whimsy.
CLEMENTS: We are very proud of that show.
ADELSTEIN: I love that show.
DEADLINE:Any other anime or manga properties you are looking to adapt for TV?
ADELSTEIN: Oh God, weve got a library full of manga that we bought in Japan.
We have writers attached, who are not currently working because of the strike.
We have a book that were getting a lot of attention on, called Bad City.
The story of the USC scandal with the guy who led the medical school, Carmen Puliafito.
CLEMENTS: Its a very compelling read.
ADELSTEIN: Its very compelling, and were getting a lot of attention on that.
The scripts are written by Ed Solomon, Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin.
Weve been buying a lot of IP, thats very important to us.
Were very excited to be doing a Robert Ludlum adaptation,The Janson Directive.
Theyre going to be writing it after the strike.
Craig Gillespie also has a deal and is doing something for us.
