COWBOY BEBOP’s one of those titles that crosses over a lot of audiences - - thanks, in large part, to its perennial, near-constant rotation on Adult Swim. Early last year, Keanu Reeves scandalized the anime’s legion of fans when he was announced as the lead in an American movie adaptation. Now, fans' fears might be assuaged or (conversely) their hopes might be dashed, as Reeves revealed in a recent interview with Collider that the movie’s probably dead. What killed it? Cost.
So spoke the One…
“I haven’t heard anything back [on the COWOBY BEBOP] movie. They turned in the script and it was very expensive. I don’t know if they’re going to…it would cost, like, half a billion dollars to make that script. So, I don’t know where it’s at right now."
Maybe it’s a little fitting that capital would be what ultimately undid a BEBOP movie, since its characters are always scrambling for cash. == TEASER ==
For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it’s about a crew of bounty hunters who ride around the galaxy in their ship, the Bebop, hunting for the worst outlaws in the universe who (not coincidentally) also have the biggest prices on their heads. Reeves, I presume, was angling to play the main character, Spike Spiegel, a charming rogue and Jeet Kwon Do master with a laid-back approach to fighting, hunting and, well, pretty much everything.
I’ve actually just gotten introduced to the show, myself. Like just recently. I’ve been watching it and posting my thoughts on each episode in my WATCH & LEARN column over at Anime Vice. I recommend you Comic Vine maniacs check out the show, too. With funk and jazz music abounding, it’s certainly the most stylish space opera I’ve ever seen.
We’ve sort-of gotten a chance to see a movie like COWBOY BEBOP fairly recently with SERENITY. The crews of the Bebop and the Serenity might be drastically different, but they were both guns-for-hire rooting for wealth in a wild west space opera milieu. Actually, to bring back the comics connection, it’s worth noting that a lot of fans have, in turn, noticed similarities between FIREFLY and Mark Ellis’ old comic DEATH HAWK.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE .Order them on Amazon here & here .