Let me kick this thread off by stating the obvious: it would probably suck.
That said, let’s say you were suddenly granted complete creative control of a live action One Piece franchise. Your pockets are deep, any actor or director you want is at your fingertips - how would you do it in a way that steers clear Dragonball Evolution territory. Spare no detail. As a diehard OP fan and film buff, I often ponder this question (with Dragonball Z too). I’ll post my own ideas shortly!
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
LANGUAGE: Undecided. I like the idea of English and Japanese.
CASTING: Mostly unknowns. I want to cast the Straw Hats as actors based on Oda's own estimation of where they'd be from in our world. i.e. Luffy would be Brazilian, Usopp African, Zoro Japanese, etc... Some big characters though, I'd like to use renowned actors. Roles that come to mind - Sash Baron Cohen as Mr. 2 (he's funny, tall, and good at being ridiculous) and the intimidating Sir Ian McShane as Sir Crocodile.
TONE: 90% very silly. Stephen Chow (Kung-Fu Hustle) -esque fight scenes, rapid fire comedy that imitates the style of the manga as much as possible, and over-the-top emotional displays. Every now and then a little serious, but mostly very light-hearted and never self serious.
MANGA-TO-MOVIE DIFFERENCES: I'd want to foreshadow/stress Ace's relationship with Luffy more. Never quite bought it in the manga. Smaller plot points like Gaimon would be left out (sadly).
MOVIE ONE: East Blue - I'd want to focus mostly on Nami for this one (but with great emphasis given to Zoro's Mihawk duel and Usopp's decision to be brave, so that the Arlong Park climax really works. I'd cut the movie before Logue Town, because I think that would make a better opener for movie two. I'd try to finish the Romance Dawn flashback in about ten minutes, the Coby/Alvida/Morgan/Zoro story in fifteen, the Nami/Buggy story (probably lacking Chouchou :( ) in twenty, the Syrup Village story (with the Meowban brother's part greatly reduced) in twenty-five, the Baratie story (with Pearl's portion outright removed) in 45 minutes, and Arlong Park in an hour. So like, 3 hours? Also - Buggy coverstory could play out during the credits and the Coby cover story could function as a stinger!
MOVIE TWO: Alabasta - Great focus here on Vivi, but also Sanji during the Mr. Prince parts. Pre-credits action sequence of Logue Town in about 15 minutes. Reverse Mountain during the credits; The Laboon story in about 10 minutes, Whiskey Peak (with a really awesome take on the Zoro vs BW scene) in 20, Little Garden (with, get this, Buggy's early return instead of Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, and foreshadowed partnership with Mr. 3) in 25 minutes, Drum Kingdom in 45 minutes, and Alabasta Kingdom for like, an hour and ten. Might give Ace and Smoker bigger roles, but nothing utterly plot-changing. Credits and stinger with Django and Hatchan.
MOVIE THREE: SKYPIEA - Equal attention to everyone and with only two arcs, we can really take time for each part, with hardly anything cut. I'd want to definitely include the between Jaya-Skypiea stuff with Whitebeard, Shanks, Doflamingo, Kuma, Buggy and Ace - maybe include a line alluding to Ace's hunt for Blackbeard. HUGE stress on the Blackbeard scenes. Maybe make this one shorter than the first two. No need to pad it unnecessarily! 2 hours and 10 minutes? Wapol's hilarious tale must be told in the credits. Stinger of Ace finding info on Blackbeard.
MOVIE FOUR: CP9 - Obviously, Usopp and Robin's movie. No doubt. Another one without a million arcs, so I think you can tell this story pretty easily in 2.5 hours without cutting anything, and you can still have time for like a hilarious 20 minute Davy Back fight sequence. Miss Goldenweek in the credits. Stinger of the BW members being relocated to Impel Down. Tempting to have the Blackbeard duel, but I want it for the MOVIE 5 opener.
MOVIE FIVE: THRILLER BARK - Another shorter film. I don't want to try and squeeze the whole Part 1 finale into one movie, so a leisurely pre-credits sequence of Ace vs Blackbeard and then I think you can fit in all of Thriller Bark into 2 hours and have a lot of time for zaniNess and light-heartedness, with a dramatic Kuma finale! Credits scene of Where-Are-They Now (with CP9 intergrated in) and with Enel on the moon as a post-credits scene.
MOVIE SIX: PARAMOUNT WAR - I wanna split the Ace flash-back into parts throughout the film, with the beginning occurring at the beginning of the movie. This'll be a long one. Saboady events 40 minutes, Amazon Lily 20 miuntes, Impel Down an hour, Paramount War 30 minutes, and the aftermath/ending of the flashback 20 minutes. So about 3 hours again. Credits definitely the Strawhats f'ing around on different islands
MOVIE SEVEN: FISHMAN
MOVIE EIGHT: DRESSROSA
MOVIE NINE: TOTTOLAND
