One Piece Sanji
Alex Lange confirmed he won't be playing Sanji in "One Piece" live-action. (Photo: Sharan Vijayagopal/Pixabay)

One Piece live-action series has been officially confirmed to be happening on Netflix. However, there are plenty of questions regarding the cast members. While a lot of names emerged at the time the project was revealed, nothing is still confirmed on who's going to join the adaptation.

One Piece live-action series was first announced in January 2020. The project is based on the manga of the same created by Eiichiro Oda in 1997. After encountering a series of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show is now in production.

But, although the work is being done, it remains uncertain on who's going to play the iconic characters in the live-action. Nothing is officially confirmed, but there are a lot of rumors online -- including Alex Lange playing the role of Sanji.

This has been a speculation for quite some time now, and the actor has finally talked about this. Recently, he confirmed on Twitter that he's not set to play Sanji. Lange made it clear that the "leaked casting is not real". This isn't the first casting rumors swirled about One Piece live-action.

Previously, writer Matt Owens said that it is not true that they've already started assembling the cast, noting that it had yet to begin. Since the series has just resumed production, fans may need to wait for a little for as casting may not be revealed anytime soon.

Originally, the project was set to kick off filming in Cape Town in August 2020. However, the plan was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The work resumed in March 2021, with showrunner Steven Maeda posting updates on his Instagram account.

As for the story, One Piece live-action starts with the East Blue arc, where it tackles Sanji, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp's recruitment, as well as the fight of Luffy against Arlong. The story will be set during the "Golden Age of Pirates," where ruthless pirates rule the sear to search for Gol D. Roger's titular treasure.

Luffy sets on a journey to find the treasure and become the new Pirate King. He goes on a mission with his own crew and their adventure begins from there. Luffy can also stretch his body like a rubber, an ability he gained after consuming the devil fruit.

One Piece live-action is produced by Tomorrow Studio. Oda will serve as the executive producer, as well as Tomorrow Studios CEO Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements. The adaptation has no official release date but it is expected to arrive in late 2021 or early 2022.