'Cowboy Bebop' Live-Action Film Getting A Rewrite

We haven't heard anything from the live-action "Cowboy Bebop" movie front in a while, so when MTV News had the chance to interview Keanu Reeves during a press event for "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" (his recent film with Robin Wright Penn), they made sure to ask about the adaptation of the popular anime.

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"Cowboy Bebop" is the successful 1998 anime directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. Telling the stories of four space cowboys of dubious backgrounds and motivations, the anime made a killing on American television with its stylish take-offs of classic films, music, and film noir. Reeves will be playing the main character Spike Spiegel in the film.

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Sources: MTV News, Latino Review

'Cowboy Bebop' Movie Will Stay True to the Anime

Following initial reports that Fox had acquired the rights to the anime "Cowboy Bebop" for a live-action release starring Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel, little news has come out about the space western for some time. Screenwriter Peter Craig broke silence this week in an interview with Anime Vice.

Craig reassured fans and explained the movie will be faithful to the source material. His latest “Bebop” script is nearly complete and better than ever thanks to his anime immersion.

Craig admitted his “Bebop” background had humble beginnings as a casual viewer of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim program block, but he’s now a full-fledged fan, having watched and re-watched the entire original Japanese anime with Otaku-level admiration.

“Every character was new and interesting, and I felt like I was looking at an encyclopedia of some imaginary world,” Craig said of his first impression of the series.

After meeting with the anime producers of “Bebop” alongside Keanu Reeves at Sunrise Inc. in December, Craig went home with a highly detailed letter, which he said he’s referenced closely as he put the finishing touches on his latest script.

“I’m close to finishing an early draft, and I believe [Sunrise will] be very happy with it,” Craig said, “Not only does the script stay extremely true to the show — I also know that [producer Erwin Stoff] and Fox are already discussing production designers that can reproduce the ‘look’ of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ as closely as possible. They’ll be reading the script soon… so my fingers are crossed.”

Although “Bebop” seems to be moving forward, a lot still has to happen for the film to manifest. But if the involvement of the original anime production team, Keanu’s kung fu skills and Craig’s devotion to the series’ source material are any indication, fans have plenty of reason to cross their fingers with Craig in the meantime.

Hopefully more news will come out soon on more casting and possible directors.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: MTV News

Cowboy Bebop

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Twentieth Century Fox is bringing the Japanese anime TV series 'Cowboy Bebop' to the big screen, with Keanu Reeves attached to star as a bounty hunter traveling through space in 2071.

One of the big titles in anime, 'Bebop' is set in a time where 'astral gates' make interstellar travel possible. Humanity, decimated by a lunar explosion resulting from a gate accident, spread out across the solar system, as did crime, which gave rise to the use of bounty hunters.

Reeves would play Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter and former member of a crime syndicate. Spiegel, along with Jet Black, a fellow bounty hunter and former cop, are the two pilots of the spaceship Bebop.

Peter Craig is writing the script.

The show, which first aired on Tokyo TV and satcaster Wowow during the late 1990s, was strongly influenced by American music, even featuring action sequences -- both space battles and mano a mano -- timed to U.S. melodies.

Reeves' association with the project leaked in the summer when Fox and 3 Arts Entertainment began the process of acquiring the rights from Sunrise Studios.

Erwin Stoff, Reeves' longtime manager, is producing through 3 Arts. Joshua Long will serve as executive producer.

Sunrise president Kenji Uchida, the TV series' director of animation, Shinichiro Watanabe, and series writer Keiko Nobumoto will serve as associate producers. Series producer Masahiko Minami will serve as production consultant.

'Bebop' marks a return to Fox for the CAA-repped Reeves, who starred in the studio's December release 'The Day the Earth Stood Still.'"

I have always wanted to see a "Cowboy Bebop" movie since I enjoyed the anime. I just don't know how much it will stick to its roots of the show. Hope Faye and Ed get to be in the movie too.
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Check out the trailer for the anime movie!

Cowboy Bebop

Do you like the anime "Cowboy Bebop?" Well, I do, and I found this recent article by MTV News very interesting. Check it out!

"It’s no secret that Keanu Reeves loves anime — a main influence on the 'Matrix' series. It’s also common knowledge that the actor holds a place in his heart for sci-fi, as evidenced by films like 'A Scanner Darkly,' 'Johnny Mnemonic ' and the currently-tops-in-theaters 'The Day the Earth Stood Still.' It’s no surprise, then, that Reeves’ latest passion project revolves around his desire to make a live-action 'Cowboy Bebop.'

'Oh yeah, cool,' he said when I asked him about the flick recently. 'We’re trying to do that.'

As fans of the Japanese classic TV series know, 'Bebop' follows a crew of bounty hunters traveling around the universe in the year 2071. Reeves hopes to play Spike Spiegel, one of these futuristic cowboys forced to pick up the slack after a population crash and hyperspace gateways have left law-enforcement unable to capture many of the galaxy’s most ruthless criminals.

'It’s got a Western quality, a Western film noir aspect to it,' Reeves said of why he’s such a big fan of Shinichiro Watanabe and Keiko Nobumoto’s groundbreaking series. 'It’s got so much style to it, and that’s part of its appeal. That kind of Old West, bordertown, low-tech science fiction aspect.'

The flick is currently being put together by Erwin Stoff, a producer who has spent the last two decades working almost exclusively on Reeves projects, and recently set the film up at 20th Century Fox. 'We’ve got the rights, we’ve got a writer,' Keanu explained. 'He’s putting together a scene outline.'

Reeves revealed that this outline for the flick is currently focusing on the origins of the fictional 'Bebop' drug developed by the military, which provides its users with a brief surge of superhuman reflexes and awareness. 'We’re taking the Red Eye [story], the beginning part of the series,' he explained, 'and then we’ll deal with the end of the series. We’re trying to figure out [the time frame]. We’re looking at the story right now.'

Since the beloved 26-episode show (as well as the feature film) didn’t necessarily maintain a linear style of storytelling, Reeves said that somewhere between the Red Eye origins and the 'Bebop' conclusion, they’ll be picking out various highlights for their own use.

'Yeah, it’s so episodic and so disconnected. We’re trying to figure out what pieces to put together to tell one story,' he explained. 'Because it’s such a short form, to make a 2 hour version [will be tough]. And it’s got so much of an origin-story obligation; you’ve got to get people up to speed, but you don’t want to do much of that. There are a lot of things to take into consideration, but we think we can do something good.'”

Are you ready for a live-action "Cowboy Bebop" movie?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!