On July 21, 2017, it was announced that a Hollywood live action One Piece television series is in the works. It is being overseen by Tomorrow ITV Studios under the supervision of Marty Adelstein, who is also one of the executive producers of Prison Break. The news was announced as part of a celebration in Tokyo this weekend celebrating the launch of One Piece in Weekly Shonen Jump, officially on July 22, 1997. Weekly Shonen Jump‘s Editor-in-Chief Hiroyuki Nakano announced the news at a press conference at Tokyo Tower. Tomorrow Studios is also working on the recently announced live-action television series for the acclaimed anime Cowboy Bebop. A statement released by Adelstein, reveals that One Piece could be one of the most expensive TV series ever made.

No further production or release details are available at this time.

Watch the announcement below:

Please see author Eiichiro Oda’s comment below, along with a translation:

There have been many talks about making a live-action series in the past 20 years. About three years ago, we began to seriously consider it. After many twists and turns, we found a good partner. Coincidentally, we made the production announcement on the 20th anniversary. I am very happy. This announcement may cause some anxiety but my one condition for the series is to never betray the fans who supported my work for 20 years. Please get excited and wait for the next report. Please look forward to it!!

– Eiichiro Oda

Comment from Hiroyuki Nakano, the editor in chief of Shonen Jump magazine:

“There have been offers from various directions about live-action before but they did not really get settled for a number of reasons. This time, it’s finally come to the point where we can make an announcement. This means that we consider the project this time to have exceeded our expectations,… so please look forward to it.”

SOURCE: Yahoo Japan, Mantan-web, animate Times, Oricon, The Japan Times, and image from natalie

UPDATE (7/21/2017 at 10:45AM): Additional details, image and video via ANN and Polygon.com

Thanks to Kelly for providing a translation of Oda’s comment.