We thought we’d heard the last of the attempts to adapt the brilliant anime TV series Cowboy Bebop, but apparently not. A live-action version is coming to TV, and there’s some pretty impressive clout behind it.
Variety reports that original series studio Sunset Inc will be producing a new take on the show along with Midnight Radio, Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, and Matthew Weinber. Midnight Radio is made up of Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, who’ve variously worked on Alias, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Dark Tower, Venom, Con Air and Zoo. There’s no network attached yet.
The show will be written by Chris Yost (Thor: Ragnarok, Silver & Black, Thor: The Dark World), who took to Twitter to reassure fans of the anime.
Everyone relax. I know the source material inside and out. pic.twitter.com/xfcD0oEydd
— christopher yost (@yost) June 7, 2017
The reason why people may not be relaxed is that the series is one of the most beloved animes of all time. The story of a group of space-faring bounty hunters led by the charismatic Spike Spiegel is a huge amount of fun, a weird and totally endearing genre hybrid that is, as Variety notes, also hugely accessible.
“Cowboy Bebop, which takes place in 2071 in the original version, follows Spike Spiegel and his gang of bounty hunters, also known as cowboys, as they cavort around the galaxy attempting to capture bad guys and survive some of the most intense dangers the galaxy has to offer.”
The show was directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Masahiko Minami and Yoshiyuki Takei. Toshihiro Kawamoto delivered the character designs, Kimitoshi Yamane was the mechanical art designer and Yoko Kanno is responsible for the incredible soundtrack.
Hollywood last had a crack at Cowboy Bebop back in the late 00s with Keanu Reeves attached to play Spike, but the project was abandoned, presumably due to the rapidly escalating budget.
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