"I'm more interested in making something new so I don't feel that I want to particularly visit previous projects," said Cowboy Bebop anime director Shinichirō Watanabe by way of a translator. Sad news for anime fans as talks of a Cowboy Bebop sequel or prequel have been ongoing for nearly 15 years. However, Watanabe did drop this little gem. "There is a project underway in America for a live-action version of Cowboy Bebop. But the details are a secret do I'm afraid I can't talk about that. Shinichirō went on to say "Cowboy Bebop was influenced a lot by American film so I'm interested to see how America will turn that into a live-action movie. I hope they'll be able to keep the feeling of the animated Cowboy Bebop."
The last bit of info on the live-action effort was over two years ago, when then-attached actor Keanu Reeves essentially confirmed that the project was dead and that he'd gotten too old to play Spike. However, the latest from Shinichirō and the fact that details are still being kept a secret would seemingly indicate that the project is once again in active development. Screenwriter Peter Craig wrote a draft that was deemed very good but too expensive by 20th Century Fox, who were working very closely with Sunrise and had Shinichirō secured as a producer.
"Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ) is a 1998 Japanese anime series developed by Sunrise. It's production team was headed by director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto and lead character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto. The story follows the episodic adventures of a misfit bounty hunter crew comprised of Spike Spiegel - a master Jeet Kune Do practitioner and former member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate; Jet Black a former law enforcement officer of the ISSP (Inter-Solar System Police) where he was known as The Black Dog; Faye Valentine - a voluptuous novice bounty hunter; Edward- aka Radical Edward, a master computer hacker; and Ein - a Pembroke Welsh Corgi "data dog." The series has become a cult classic and garnered major science fiction awards and international praise for its characters, story, voice acting, animation and outstanding soundtrack from anime composer legend, Yoko Kanno.
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