Rumors Debunked That the Live-Action Series Sunk with First Test Audience

Live-action adaptations of immensely popular, classic animes has long since become a growing trend, and Netflix especially has not been shy about jumping aboard that ship, for better or worse. Its latest ambitious project of this type is the adaptation of the long-running One Piece, which is one of the most popular animes of all time. A recent test screening of the show took place to gauge an initial audience reaction, and word spread swiftly across the internet the past couple of days that the screening was an absolute disaster that left its audience utterly confused and dissatisfied with what they saw. However, per a report from ComicBook, longtime One Piece collaborator Greg Werner is adamantly denying that the reaction was anything remotely negative.

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Related: The One Piece Live-Action Cast Wants Jamie Lee Curtis in the Netflix Series

The One Piece live-action adaptation was first announced by Netflix in 2020, an understandably massive project long in the works that has quite a lot to accomplish. It’s based on the world’s best-selling manga of the same name, which first premiered in Shonen Jump magazine back in 1997 and since has spawned a staggering 95 volumes with nearly one thousand chapters, and an equally popular anime series that followed suit. Since the announcement by the streaming platform, there have been teases of what’s to come with promotional posters, a picture of the first script’s title page, a first look trailer released during Netflix’s Geeked Week last summer, as well as a tentative premiere date of August 31st 2023. Shooting took place in Cape Town, South Africa last year with plenty of room for the ships built from scratch, and wrapped at the end of August. Casting for the show’s main characters was finally announced with Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zero, Jacob Gibson as Usopp, Emily Rudd as Nami, Taz Skylar as Sanji and many, many more.

The Confusion Behind the Test Screening

With the live-action series set to potentially debut later this summer, a test screening was recently given with an audience to get an initial reaction. The initial word about the screening on Twitter via an account named Divinity Seeker claimed that the audience response was catastrophically bad, citing poorly rendered CGI, confusing tone and writing issues, etc. This began to spread across various fan sites, treating the tweet as a legitimate anecdote, but new light has now been shed by none other than One Piece collaborator Greg Werner. While not affiliated with the actual Netflix series being produced, he has worked for a long time with Shueisha on Eiichiro Oda’s long-running series, and his comments carry considerable weight. He debunked that test screening went poorly, and asked fans to disregard the articles that have spawned with the rumors.

The first season of the One Piece series is set to premiere on Netflix later this year, with an unconfirmed, potential release date of August 31st. The first look trailer released during Geeked Week that gives a behind-the-scenes perspective of the show can be viewed below.

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