Sony Eyes 8.7 IMDb Anime For Ambitious Live-Action Rival To One Piece

Sony is making a play for Netflix's One Piece trophy, and it's not shy about the plan. The studio behind the Kingdom films is leaning hard into live-action anime, pointing to Kingdom as proof it knows how to do this without sanding off what fans love. Yes, this is Sony saying: we have our own crown contender.

How Kingdom quietly became Sony's sharpest weapon

Kingdom started as a manga about a war orphan with a very modest goal: unite all of China. The anime arrived in 2012, and then the 2019 live-action film hit like a hammer. Big, grounded, and surprisingly faithful to the spirit of the source, it turned into a genuine blockbuster and kicked off a full-on franchise. Sequels followed, the box office kept showing up, and the fanbase expanded beyond Japan. On the numbers side: the 2012 Kingdom anime sits at an 8.7 on IMDb and streams on Crunchyroll.

TIFFCOM: Sony lays its cards on the table

At Sony's Tokyo presentation during TIFFCOM, Shebnem Askin, who oversees creative production at Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP), basically said the quiet part out loud: Sony wants to turn top-shelf anime and manga into live-action hits around the world, with Kingdom as the template. According to her, the company is actively meeting with anime producers and building a system to make these movies across multiple regions.

"Since I came here, I'm taking so many great meetings with a lot of companies that are producing incredible stories with anime. We are starting to look at different anime movies where we can hopefully adapt as live action movies around the world. This is one of our missions by attending TIFFCOM."

And this isn't just a vague ambition. Sony says it has a production network that spans 10 countries, from Japan to Brazil. The pitch is simple: make these stories locally, with local talent and sensibilities, and then scale them globally.

"We don't only think local, but we become local in each and every territory."

So, Kingdom vs One Piece?

Netflix's One Piece shocked a lot of people by being, you know, good. It broke the live-action anime curse and got mainstream audiences on board. But here's the twist: Kingdom didn't need Western validation to be huge. It conquered Japan first, on its own terms, with a style that's cinematic without feeling like it was run through a Hollywood filter.

That's where Sony thinks it wins. SPIP is running a 'local-first, global-next' playbook. With Crunchyroll and Aniplex in the family, Sony already has the anime audience and the production muscle. The live-action push is the next step.

• Kingdom is the model: start with a beloved manga/anime, translate it with care, and build a legitimate film franchise.
• SPIP's network spans 10 countries (Japan to Brazil), designed to produce locally and scale globally.
• Shebnem Askin is actively scouting at markets like TIFFCOM to line up the next adaptations.
• Strategy is authenticity over trend-chasing: keep the core intact rather than 'Westernize' it.
• Ecosystem advantage: Crunchyroll (distribution/fandom) + Aniplex (production) + SPIP (live-action) = pipeline.
• Numbers snapshot: Kingdom (anime, 2012) — IMDb 8.7/10, on Crunchyroll. One Piece (anime) — IMDb 9/10, also on Crunchyroll.

The hunt for the next big swing

Askin's team is already meeting with creators to find more IP that can get the Kingdom treatment. No, they didn't announce anything wild, but the vibe is clear: if they could mount something like Demon Slayer or Chainsaw Man with Kingdom-level production values, they would. The point is not to sand down the edges; it's to let these stories travel as themselves.

So yeah, One Piece may have kicked down the door for live-action anime, but Kingdom is positioned to walk through it with a full army behind it. Whether it takes the throne is a different question, but Sony's intent is not subtle.

Does Kingdom have the momentum to outpace One Piece in live-action? I wouldn't bet against it.