It’s a rare thing for a Netflix series to get an early renewal. And yet, One Piece hasn’t even premiered its second season yet, and it’s already landed some positive renewal news.
Yes, One Piece season 3 is officially happening. The news was announced during the annual One Piece Day celebration in Tokyo, Japan. The early renewal is excellent news for fans of the series, and not just because we get more episodes.
One Piece season 3 will start filming in 2025
We tend to have to wait a long time between streaming show seasons. The renewals happen after a season has dropped, and then the production work has to start. This leads to major issues for fans, because they get fed up of waiting or they forget what happened and decide not to watch the next season.
With One Piece season 3 getting a confirmation now, filming can start quickly. In fact, Deadline reports that filming will start in Cape Town, South Africa later in 2025. There is a change in showrunner, as Joe Tracz will step up as showrunner after the departure of Matt Owens. Tracz served as co-showrunner with Owens in season 2.
Landing a third season isn’t easy when it comes to Netflix and other streaming shows. Unlike broadcast shows, where the higher costs tend to be at the start of a show’s production, the costs of Netflix shows go up exponentially around the third season. This often leads to abrupt cancellations, so we’re excited to see a third season aleady.
One Piece season 2 still doesn’t have a premiere date
This renewal is a surprise considering One Piece season 2 doesn’t even have a premiere date as of yet. The second season of the live-action isn’t expected to arrive until 2026.
See, it’s a long wait! One Piece season 1 debuted in 2023, and it was a relatively quiet arrival. Despite having kids who adore the anime, I hadn’t even realized there was a live-action until the news of the second season started coming out.
At least with the One Piece season 3 production starting this year, it should mean a 2027 release date. Maybe we’ll have to wait until 2028, but it is a shorter time frame than the wait for season 2. That’s sure to help the success of the show.
Of course, there are no details of the third season just yet. Right now, we’re looking at what’s to come in season 2, which will see Luffy and the Straw Hats head out on an adventure to Grand Line, an unpredictable realm with the hope of the greatest treasure in the world. What exactly will they experience in the bizarre islands?
One Piece is available to stream on Netflix.