Hollywood is determined to crack the code and find the right formula to produce successful live-action anime adaptations. Today, Variety confirmed that Marvel Comics scribe Chris Yost is writing a live-action Cowboy Bebop TV series.
The project is spearheaded by Tomorrow Studios - a new partnership between ITV Studios and Marty Adelstein. Also involved in producing the series is the original anime studio, Sunrise Inc.
The 26-episode anime series was released in 1998 and also went on to receive a 2001 anime film, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. The series is largely credited with launching the careers of director Shinichirō Watanabe (Samurai Champloo, Kids on the Slope, Space Dandy) and composer Yoko Kanno (Ghost in the Shell: TAS, Escaflowne, Wolf's Rain. A live-action film was setup at 20th Century Fox in the late-200s, with Keanu Reeves attached to star. However, Fox passed on it due to budget concerns.
In a press release, Adelstein stated, "We are excited to work with Sunrise in bringing this beloved anime to the U.S. and global marketplace as a live-action series. The animated version has long resonated with audiences worldwide, and with the continued, ever growing, popularity of anime, we believe a live action version will have an incredible impact today."
Tomorrow Studios is also developing a Snowpiercer TV series for TNT.
Explore the far reaches of the galaxy in this undeniably hip series that inspired a generation – and redefined anime as an indisputable art form. The Bebop crew is just trying to make a buck. This motely lot of intergalactic loners teams up to track down fugitives and turn them in for cold hard cash. Spike is a hero whose cool façade hides a dark and deadly past. The pilot Jet is a bruiser of a brute who can’t wait to collect the next bounty. Faye Valentine is a femme fatale prone to breaking hearts and separating fools from their money. Along for the ride are the brilliant, but weird, hacker Ed and a super-genius Welsh Corgi named Ein. On their own, any one of them is likely to get lost in the sprawl of space, but together, they’re they most entertaining gang of bounty hunters in the year 2071.