Posted in: Netflix, Preview, Trailer, TV | Tagged: anime, manga, netflix, one piece, preview

One Piece S02 Update; "We're Writing" for Jamie Lee Curtis: Showrunner

One Piece Showrunner Matt Owens shared some great news regarding the Season 2 writers' room and discussed Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Kureha.

So the last time we checked in with Netflix, Tomorrow Studios & publisher Shueisha's live-action series take on author Eiichiro Oda's manga One Piece, both the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes were still ongoing – but we were given a glimmer of hope of what could be on the horizon. In case you didn't know, there's been a big push within the fandom to have Jamie Lee Curtis join the streaming series adaptation in the role of Dr. Kureha. The elderly Drum Island doctor (called a "witch" by some) is also the mentor and adoptive mother of Tony Tony Chopper – who is already confirmed to appear in the second season. In fact, Curtis took to Instagram late last month to make it clear that they were ready to lobby for the role once the strikes wrapped – with showrunner Matt Owens offering an encouraging response. Now, thanks to an interview with Variety that was released earlier today, Owens is offering more details on the efforts to bring Curtis aboard – and how much of it is on pause until the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved. But with the writers' strike effectively over, Owens was also able to offer some great news about how things are looking when it comes to the writers' room and Season 2 scripts.

Owens Offers Season 2 Writing Update: Owens confirmed that the writers' room officially reopened this week, "getting scripts done so that we can get into design work, scheduling and pre-production, all of that kind of stuff." Though the writers' room was open briefly before the WGA strike, the writers "didn't get much further than starting to plan out what the season is going to be and got a couple of outlines done," so no scripts were written pre-writers' strike. In addition, Owens shares how they're looking over the first season to see what they could learn from it for Season 2 – and that Oda has had a major role in the early work on the second season. "We've got some outlines, and we have a really solid plan that we had communication with Oda about," Owens explained. "Part of my trip in April was to talk to him about some of the early ideas that we had, talking to him about things that I want to include to just make sure that our ideas are in line with what he thinks" (with Owens adding that the "communication has been open, and we've gotten some insight from him [Oda], we've gotten some things approved, and we had started our process").

Owens Updates Jamie Lee Curtis/Dr. Kureha: "We have opportunities to stunt cast some roles, some rules that are very important, and it came out that Jamie Lee Curtis is a 'One Piece' fan. As soon as she said that, we were like, okay, we have to try and get her on the show. What can we do? And Doctor Kureha, very luckily, is a character who is coming up in our story and is someone who is perfect for Jamie Lee Curtis," Owens revealed. "So we tried to start manifesting this dream of ours. After she won her Oscar, the writers' room sent her a figure of Doctor Kureha with a nice note that said, 'Congratulations on your statue, here's another one to put next to it. Hope to speak to you soon.'" Owens continued, "When she reposted that, it got a lot of fan interest, and I commented on it. We're trying to manifest it. Yes, as of right now, SAG is still striking, so there have not been real conversations. But 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."

And here's a look back at the final official trailer – as well as at a Japanese dub of the official trailer with voices we're sure that you will recognize. That's because the original anime Straw Hat voice actors (Mayumi Tanaka, Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, and Hiroaki Hirata) are reprising their roles for the streaming series (news that we first learned about back in July):

Previously, fans were treated to a behind-the-scenes featurette, giving us a chance to see how the classic made the jump from ink to live-action. The streamer has never-before-seen interviews with the cast and the creative team (done well before the SAG-AFTRA & WGA strikes) discussing bringing Oda's iconic work in a brand new & exciting way, what went into finding the perfect cast, the impressive stunt coordination that we'll see this season, and much more.

Here's a look at the official trailer for Netflix's One Piece, with the streaming series adaptation currently streaming – and following that, we have a look back at the previously-released teaser trailer and additional information on the streaming series adaptation:

Netflix's One Piece: What You Need to Know…

Netflix's One Piece stars Iñaki Godoy (Who Killed Sara?) as Monkey D. Luffy, Peter Gadiot (Yellowjackets) as Shanks, Mackenyu (Ruroni Kenshin: Final Chapter) as Rornoa Zoro, Emily Rudd (Fear Street) as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson (All Rise) as Usopp, Taz Skylar (Boiling Point) as Sanji, Morgan Davies (The Evil Dead) as Koby, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino (The Sex Lives of College Girls) as Alvida, Aidan Scott (Action Point) as Helmeppo, Jeff Ward (Hacks) as Buggy, McKinley Belcher III (Ozark) as Arlong, Vincent Regan (Troy) as Garp, Langley Kirkwood as Captain Morgan, Celeste Loots as Kaya, Alexander Maniatis as Klahadore, Craig Fairbrass as Chef Zeff, Steven Ward as Mihawk, and Chioma Umeala as Nojiko. Now here's a look back at the behind-the-scenes featurette showcasing just how massive of production the live-action series take on One Piece has become (including some amazing looking examples of how the concept art is coming to life):

The streamer's 8-episode series highlights the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew as they explore a fantastical world of endless oceans and exotic islands in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as "One Piece" to become the next Pirate King. Steven Maeda (Lost, The X-Files) serves as writer, showrunner & executive producer, with Matt Owens (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel's Luke Cage) also writing as well as producing. Oda serves as an executive producer alongside Tomorrow Studios' Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements (with Netflix and Tomorrow Studios co-producing). Now, here's a listen to "Wealth Fame Power," the show's main theme from Billboard chart-topping artists, composers, songwriters, and music producers Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli (The Witcher, "Toss A Coin to Your Witcher"):

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