What's next for OP movies?

[King Cannon]

So we just had news that Film RED has surpassed Film Z to become the most successful OP film ever. The reason for this success, from what I see, can be attributed to the following:

• Granting Shanks, a long-established character, primary focus and revealing some major info about him, which likely attracted older fans. Older movies, while they did include canon characters as well, it was never to the point of tying them so much to the movie's plot.

• Uta ended up being a massive marketing icon herself, being directly related to Shanks, voiced by Ado and something different from the usual OP Film villain. If Shanks brought in the older crowd, then Uta was a hit with the younger one.

• Oda's bigger involvement, something that wasn't seen since Strong World. As a result, Oda ended up promoting the film heavily, drawing some Uta-dedicated pages and even showcasing more of Shanks in the actual story.

So I'm thinking how next OP films could replicate such success. Will they attempt to focus in another established character like Shanks and reveal some of their background? Will we get another female character similar to Uta? Will Oda be greatly involved once more?

[puffing.cinema]

Well, you can tell that Strong World and Red are the movies with most involvement from Oda - and they are a few years appart. I believe Oda will take some time away from being so heavy handed in a production role to focus on the manga now. Even more because it's the final sprint (a five year sprint, no less).

But when it comes to story, I believe that it is known that packing fan favorites that are away from the spotlight is a good receipt to bring quorum to these movies. We just had Cross Guild anounced, and they are a perfect scenario to introduce two hyped characters. A Bounty Hunter story where the Mugiwara are the villains could be pretty entertaining...

From the FILM series, we had: Roger's rival and previous Rocks member; Marine's previous admiral; underworld player and bilionaire playing as Celestial Dragon; unhinged adopted daughter of a Yonkou we know next to nothing about. They already did all big powers at play safe from the Revolutionaires. And they were quite diverse: adventure driven, character driven, what if heist movie, what if musical. So I'd love a horror of thriller take, lol. A small scale adventure focusing on the Strawhats and their interections would be golden, too.

[rayleigh92]

I think a top-class bounty hunter has to appear sooner or later and movies are just the perfect opportunity to do it.

[dropper]

Considering what's worked in the past:

• Big canon character involvement
• Lots of popular characters for fanservice
• Oda invovement
• Fancy Straw Hat attire
• Summer 2025 release
• Increased production budget

A big emphasis on flair and fanservice to draw in audiences. Since that model works so well for Toei I'm not sure if we'll see something completely original like Film 6 again. It would be shame if we didn't get another story that focused solely on the Straw Hats.

If it's going to lean more towards canon, it would cool to see a story which Oda doesn't have time to create in the manga itself. If Oda were to introduce an opportunity for said canon story to fit within the manga timeline of course. Think of how he's merged concepts and arcs in the past for time efficiency, maybe he could deliver a mini-arc concept as a film.

I hope we see another "Luffy's mother/ Zoro's brother/ Ace's friend" kinda story to draw people in. Shanks having an unknown idol daughter just about scraped past.

[pokebat7]

Before Stampede became Stampede it was going to be an Ace Romance Movie. So a Romance Movie would be my choice, though I do like the Idea of the Strawhat's staring in a cheesy B-rate Horror Movie.

A Mystery would be fun also.

[Cinder]

The next movie will be One Piece Film BLUE, obviously. The lead will be Vivi!

Nah, I'm honestly surprised Oda continued being involved after Strong World and started a trend because that's a lot of overhead work for him on top of the serialization. I've been surprised by every movie idea I wouldn't even know what to predict next.

[Cyborg009]

@pokebat7 said in What's next for OP movies?:

Before Stampede became Stampede it was going to be an Ace Romance Movie. So a Romance Movie would be my choice, though I do like the Idea of the Strawhat's staring in a cheesy B-rate Horror Movie.

A Mystery would be fun also.

they already did a horror movie. though i wouldn't called it B-rate

[Retro]

I would love a movie that focuses on the lore of Devil Fruits. I mean they don't have to really explain their origin in-depth since I know Oda wants to save that for the main canon, but just kinda scratch the surface of their mystique. Have a villain that connected to where they come from like a keeper of the fruits, a scientist trying to continue the study of them and why SMILES are so defective or someone who can take the powers out of DF users easily and has Luffy in their crosshairs.. And that leads the Straw Hats and maybe some canon character on an adventure that gives them a better understanding behind the fruits power.

[Ivotas]

One Piece Red proves that in terms of financial success riding the wave of what's popular (in and outside of One Piece) is the best approach to go. I don't think though that the can duplicate the success if they combine popular One Piece elements (fan favorite charaters/stables) with the same non-One Piece element: a popular singer. They would have to find something else. Whatever they do, I think starting with the marketability will come first and the story will be written around it.

That being said, as far as stories are concerned, there's been several plotlines I always thought one could write interesting stories around, if it's in a setting that can ignore or at least bend some of the rules established in the main story:

• An Angel Fruit: Basically it's a story about undoing the effects of an Devil Fruit, taking away the "curse" of being unable to swim but losing the Devil Fruit ability along the way. The antagonist can be a priest/monk/cleric who see's the Devil Fruits as a source of evil in the world and wants to clense the world from it. Definitely something that would make no sense in the main story but something that could fit in a movie with a proper set up.
• A Water Logia: Again with the Devil Fruit abilities.^^' Pretty much the quest for (yet another) ultimate Devil Fruit ability. One that shouldn't exist because of an ability users weakness to water. This one could be the obvious exception that makes sense only in a movie setting. Have an antagonist who has this fruit and can immediately render any DF user in a weakened state should he/she be able to wrap them around in a water bubble.
• A Bounty Hunter Group: I always hoped that at some point we'll see a strong bounty hunter group of similar threat levels like the Warlords. This will obviously never happen in the main story. But in a movie it would still be possible. Personally I would have liked, if just like the Warlords or the Emperors they are actually not a group of comerades but rivals that compete with each other instead. But for the confines of a movie I think they being a team actually makes more sense.

Well, that's about the stories I would like to see explored. But I guess that's just me and not something that's very well marketable to a broader audience. Still throwing it out there just for shits and giggles.

[pokebat7]

@Cyborg009 said in What's next for OP movies?:

@pokebat7 said in What's next for OP movies?:

Before Stampede became Stampede it was going to be an Ace Romance Movie. So a Romance Movie would be my choice, though I do like the Idea of the Strawhat's staring in a cheesy B-rate Horror Movie.

A Mystery would be fun also.

they already did a horror movie. though i wouldn't called it B-rate

Baron Omatsuri came before the Film Series. I was thinking of a genre that series hasn't done yet Red is a Musical, Gold is a Spy flick, Z is a Drama, Strong World is an Adventure film. plus, I feel a cheesy horror movie would fit the tone of One Piece a lot better than Baron Omatsuri.

[Cyborg009]

@pokebat7 said in What's next for OP movies?:

@Cyborg009 said in What's next for OP movies?:

@pokebat7 said in What's next for OP movies?:

Before Stampede became Stampede it was going to be an Ace Romance Movie. So a Romance Movie would be my choice, though I do like the Idea of the Strawhat's staring in a cheesy B-rate Horror Movie.

A Mystery would be fun also.

they already did a horror movie. though i wouldn't called it B-rate

Baron Omatsuri came before the Film Series. I was thinking of a genre that series hasn't done yet Red is a Musical, Gold is a Spy flick, Z is a Drama, Strong World is an Adventure film. plus, I feel a cheesy horror movie would fit the tone of One Piece a lot better than Baron Omatsuri.

at this point, anything would be better than Baron Omatsuri.

[Md-Martin]

@Ivotas said in What's next for OP movies?:

• A Bounty Hunter Group: I always hoped that at some point we'll see a strong bounty hunter group of similar threat levels like the Warlords. This will obviously never happen in the main story. But in a movie it would still be possible. Personally I would have liked, if just like the Warlords or the Emperors they are actually not a group of comerades but rivals that compete with each other instead. But for the confines of a movie I think they being a team actually makes more sense.

This is something that baffles me with the anime. Films and the series.

This is such a part of the world building of the series that has barely been touched. It's like Oda left this part of the franchise alone for others to expand upon.

I mean to the point that you literally could have a bounty hunter interrupt even an arc like Whole Cake or Wano for a filler episode or two and it would logically make sense with the characters in play.

I honestly wonder if Oda has some editorial mandate saying "no bounty hunters without my OK, because I have something really big planned". But that's unlikely and just me trying to rationalize why we've wasted such a cool part of the lore of this world.

[Ivotas]

@Md-Martin said in What's next for OP movies?:

@Ivotas said in What's next for OP movies?:

• A Bounty Hunter Group: I always hoped that at some point we'll see a strong bounty hunter group of similar threat levels like the Warlords. This will obviously never happen in the main story. But in a movie it would still be possible. Personally I would have liked, if just like the Warlords or the Emperors they are actually not a group of comerades but rivals that compete with each other instead. But for the confines of a movie I think they being a team actually makes more sense.

This is something that baffles me with the anime. Films and the series.

This is such a part of the world building of the series that has barely been touched. It's like Oda left this part of the franchise alone for others to expand upon.

I mean to the point that you literally could have a bounty hunter interrupt even an arc like Whole Cake or Wano for a filler episode or two and it would logically make sense with the characters in play.

I honestly wonder if Oda has some editorial mandate saying "no bounty hunters without my OK, because I have something really big planned". But that's unlikely and just me trying to rationalize why we've wasted such a cool part of the lore of this world.

It's rather disappointing really because at this point the bounties are really nothing more than power levels and that's it. Yeah, I know "threat levels" yadda-yadda-yadda. Point is we never see anything of this play out and the constantly escalating bounties serve only to hype up the next opponent. We have to admit, that this is all the bounties seem to be good for in OP.
Vague manga spoiler...

spoiler

[Honeyman]

@King-Cannon said in What's next for OP movies?:

So we just had news that Film RED has surpassed Film Z to become the most successful OP film ever. The reason for this success, from what I see, can be attributed to the following:

• Granting Shanks, a long-established character, primary focus and revealing some major info about him, which likely attracted older fans. Older movies, while they did include canon characters as well, it was never to the point of tying them so much to the movie's plot.

• Uta ended up being a massive marketing icon herself, being directly related to Shanks, voiced by Ado and something different from the usual OP Film villain. If Shanks brought in the older crowd, then Uta was a hit with the younger one.

• Oda's bigger involvement, something that wasn't seen since Strong World. As a result, Oda ended up promoting the film heavily, drawing some Uta-dedicated pages and even showcasing more of Shanks in the actual story.

So I'm thinking how next OP films could replicate such success. Will they attempt to focus in another established character like Shanks and reveal some of their background? Will we get another female character similar to Uta? Will Oda be greatly involved once more?

This is me coming off the back of having seen the newest film in IMAX twice. I get the distinct feeling the last few films are getting closer and closer to becoming cannon material and if still not the case, not so far away. Its in the hands of the next director and production crew to come up with something interesting and perhaps they can go with an entirely new setting a la film Gold which worked pretty well thinking back on that film (that antagonist doesn't need to be linked to someone mighty in the series and can just be a threat of their own accord).

As long as the budgets increase and the cinematic experience is an enjoyable one I'll continue to go to the cinema to see these films.

[yaaraaja4]

I would say two things about that:

a) Uta wanted to take responsibility for what she did. She was also already prepared to die. What changed was the meaning of her death, but the will was there.

b) Would the Marines and everyone else leave her alone after all that happened? You'd probably need to make a whole separate sequel movie to show the consequences.
https://www.routerlogin.net/
pikashow

[Robby]

I'm less curious about the next move, (probably 2025) and more about the one that comes after that in 2028. (The last several movies have all been 3 or 4 years apart, and the Dragonball movies the same so I see no reason to expect otherwise.)

Because if Oda is really, REALLY serious about wrapping in 3 years. he'll be wrapping up around the time the next movie is due and certaily won't want to split his focus that year, so I don't forsee him having a huge involvement in the next one.

I think we all expect Oda to take a bit longer that that just due to the sheer number of loose threads, and finish in 2027 for the 30th anniversary. And the anime started in 1999, so it's 30th anniversary will be... in 2029. I can't see them passing up having "30th anniversary" as a tie in theme if they push a litle earlier to match the manga, or push a little later for the anime. And post-series? Depending on how the manga ends (is Luffy dead, etc.) that'll be the time they can do ANYTHING. With nearly anyone in the crew.

Naruto notably tied itself out so that its final movie was actually closure on the Naruto/Hinata thread that the manga never bothered to deal with, so it makes you wonder.

Now its possible Oda can't help hismelf and Elbaf takes 2 years and then the final war runs the length of 1/5 the series so its still going in 2033, but we should believe him when he says he's trying to be done.

[Johnny B. Decent]

Maybe an ex-Revolutionary who was too extreme for Dragon and went on to make his own group?

[dropper]

It would be they adapted adapted the series finale before the anime reaches that point.

Just like Galaxy Express 999 where they adapted the finale before the anime did (while it was still airing). Also like Demon Slayer, where the official amime adaption was a cinema exclusive.

With the correct timing, something like that could surpass the Mugen Train box office. Toei only has one opportunity to pull off something monumental. It shouldn't be sniffed at.

[crlsdc]

Given the success of RED, they will at least think about doing a sequel. Maybe something more focused on this Tot Musica demon.

In that case, we could expect some lore in a "DB:Battle of Gods" fashion: maybe there are other demons like Tot Musica or stronger; maybe each devil fruit hides has his own demon, and in this case we would end up with a whole army of new enemies yonko-level which in turn would lead to a "One Piece Super" sequel...

[MetaMario]

Definitely feel as if the next movie WILL be after the manga officially ends. And that point, Oda and Toei could make it literally about anything (one more adventure with the Straw Hats slightly older, some remix of the early series, etc. etc.)

[Johnny B. Decent]

@MetaMario Nah, we got at least 5 years to go. Toei wants that cash.

[zeltrax225]

No way they aren't going to milk G5 in another movie. It's going to be closer than we think.
I hope we get another Marine villain so that we can link it with the revolutionary + WG in parallel with the final arc.
Someone who was supposed to be a good candidate for Admiral but was rejected and is salty would be good and a fitting villain, would also work well canonically because where tf did Fujitora come from anyway so it doesn't matter.

[Cockycent]

From my understanding, Kimetsu recently broke the door down for anime film to make more than they ever have ww. There are franchise that have been around and have never made this much. Toho obviously dominates the distribution market with Toei behind them.

I'd prefer OP films take a different approach and go for a few of the novels. I disagree with the notion that nothing OP can sell w/o Luffy sticking his face to the screen. I think Ace and Law can pull it off in this current climate. Now Toei attempting it is just another story.

Ryuma novel (another stab at Monsters), Noland novel, Garp novel, Kaido novel.

[MetaMario]

it's interesting to see the string of recent OP movies having a major character that in someway IS canon, but due to time constraints or just manga flow they'll never appear, at the best you get some easter egg references like Shiki. Although you start questioning logistics.

actually without looking it up do i even know the movies (i have not watched them all)

movie 1 - standard adventure
movie 2 - also standard adventure
movie 3 - ?
movie 4 - chopper and the animals, but robin is not there
movie 5 - zoro has a sword rival or something
movie 6 - the experimental art style one
movie 7 - jiggling tits every 5 seconds
movie 8 - alabasta abridged (first one dubbed!)
movie 9 - drum ft. robin, franky, and sunny
movie 10 - strong world
movie 11 - Z
movie 12 - stampede i think?
movie 13 - gold
movie 14 - red

[Honeyman]

Having a think about the next film its likely they will confirm a new one is in production next year (clearly they're riding the wave of success for Film Red still and won't say anything until months after its home release date is confirmed). Hopefully by then more is revealed about some of OP's longest running mysteries (I think its time for Oda to reveal what the significance of D in characters' names is unless its tied to the series ending and would prove to be a spoiler for that).

Mainly joking but watch it be that its the middle letter of the clan/family name which turns out to be Oda (I can already see fans frothing at the mouth over how throwaway that would be for a cheap laugh. It would be funny if that turned it to be the case though).

[Honeyman]

@MetaMario said in What's next for OP movies?:

it's interesting to see the string of recent OP movies having a major character that in someway IS canon, but due to time constraints or just manga flow they'll never appear, at the best you get some easter egg references like Shiki. Although you start questioning logistics.

actually without looking it up do i even know the movies (i have not watched them all)

movie 1 - standard adventure
movie 2 - also standard adventure
movie 3 - ?
movie 4 - chopper and the animals, but robin is not there
movie 5 - zoro has a sword rival or something
movie 6 - the experimental art style one
movie 7 - jiggling tits every 5 seconds
movie 8 - alabasta abridged (first one dubbed!)
movie 9 - drum ft. robin, franky, and sunny
movie 10 - strong world
movie 11 - Z
movie 12 - stampede i think?
movie 13 - gold
movie 14 - red

Its a shame there was quite a gap between the early film where the antagonist had ties to Zoro and the next film where that happened again being five films later (Shiki being a rival pirate to Gold Roger). The recent run of films where a new character has connections to a crewmate or organisation have been some of the most enjoyable so I honestly don't mind if they do it again when the next one gets announced (perhaps have the character be tied to the Lunarians, celestial dragons, the Five Elder Stars or similar to vary it from being Robin/Franky/Brook/Jinbei's long lost friend, for example).

[Johnny B. Decent]

If we want to do another "super villain" angle, how about the crew finding the frozen body of Oars II and unfreeze him...only to find him less then grateful?

[Retro]

@MetaMario Three is the Chopper and the animal movie. 4 is the full length one about the boat race.

[MetaMario]

@Retro said in What's next for OP movies?:

@MetaMario Three is the Chopper and the animal movie. 4 is the full length one about the boat race.

hmmm.....oh, okay. I thought the candy guy was in movie 2 for some reason.