Monday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Manga adaptation One Piece sails on with Netflix

Netflix has extended its adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s pirate adventure manga series One Piece into a third season, ahead of the debut of the second run.

Production in Cape Town, South Africa starts later this year, with Ian Stokes set to join Joe Tracz as co-showrunner.

Producers Shueisha and ITV Studios-owned Tomorrow Studios are again attached on the series, which follows the epic high-seas adventures of Monkey D. Luffy as he tries to find legendary treasures.

The news was accompanied with a first look at the second season, which debuts next year on Netflix. The show debuted on the streamer in 2023 and spent eight weeks on its global top 10, becoming the first Netflix English-language series to debut at number one in Japan. The manga on which the show is based, and which shares its name, is the country’s has sold more than 500 million copies worldwide.  

Paramount pays $7.7bn for UFC rights

Fresh from its merger with Skydance last week, Paramount has struck a seven-year rights deal worth $7.7bn to show UFC events in the US.

The agreement, which equates to an outlay of $1.1bn annually, will see fights from the TKO Group being shown on Paramount-owned services from 2026.

Paramount+ will be able to watch for at no additional cost, marking a reversal of UFC’s pay-per-view model at present.

UFC has for the past five years been available to customers of Disney’s ESPN in the US. The latter struck its own pact last week for wrestling brand WWE in a five-year deal valued at $1.6bn.

Netflix extends Archewell deal

Netflix has extended its partnership with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s outfit, Archewell Productions.

The multi-year, first-look deal covers TV and film projects and comes after the prodco released shows including Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus, and Polo.

Its most recent show was culinary series With Love, Meghan, which snagged 5.3 million viewers in H1 2025. A second season debuts later in August.

Cars, Avengers head to Disney Jr

Disney Jr has unveiled a handful of new shows, including a series inspired by its Cars franchise.

Cars: Lightning Racers will see Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy reprising their iconic roles in the series, while Marvel’s Avengers: Mightiest Friends marks the first-ever preschool Avengers series.

Two new seasons of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, which debuted 22 July on Disney+ as the biggest original Disney Jr. launch on the platform to date, have also been confirmed.

Disney Jr’s slate already includes pre-school heabyweights Bluey, Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Netflix lands Women’s World Cup in Canada

Exclusive rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup have been picked up by Netflix in Canada, marking the latest foray into live sports for the streamer.

The deal covers the 2027 and 2031 tournaments and follows Netflix’s acquisition of US rights to the same competitions earlier this year.

Netflix has been ramping up its sports coverage with the third installment of the Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano boxing bout, while it has also added WWE Raw wrestling and NFL Christmas day games to its roster in select territories.