Announcement had stated that Shanghai Minghuan Investment planned to create live-action film

Update: Japanese publisher Shueisha told ANN on Friday that this announcement is false. ANN's original article is below.

Chinese company Shanghai Minghuan Investment announced on Business Wire on Thursday that it plans to create a live-action film based on Eiichiro Oda 's One Piece manga.

According to the press release, the film will star Japanese actor Masataka Kubota (live-action Death Note drama's Light) as the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. Kubota ranked #1 in Goo Ranking's poll on which actor fans wanted to see play Luffy. Chinese idol Xie Leilei (pictured right), a member of the group GNZ48, will play the heroine Charlotte Purin. The press release states that she is known by fans as "The Girl from One Piece " because she resembles the character.

The company purchased the copyright from creator Oda for 1.6 billion yen (about US$15.1 million).

The long-running manga and its television anime adaptation recently inspired a kabuki play adaptation.

[Via Hachima Kikō]