Keanu Reeves Talks ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Film
Keanu Reeves told MTV that the live-action adaptation of the popular Cowboy Bebop will take “Asteroid Blues”, the first episode and expand it into a feature. “We’ve got the rights, we’ve got a writer,” Reeves said. “He’s putting together a scene outline.”
Reeves and producer Eric Stoff acquired the rights via 20th-Century Fox in a deal announced over the summer.
The series was one of the early anime hits in the 1990s and gained a cult following for the 26 episodes, created by Shinichiro Watanabe and Keiko Nobumoto, which were produced and aired on Cartoon Network. Bandai Entertainment released the entire series and anime film Bones on DVD. It has made frequent appearances on top anime lists both here and in Japan.
“It’s got a Western quality, a Western film noir aspect to it,” Reeves said. “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.
“I think that would be a production designer’s dream. I think you just need a good production designer.”
The series, set aboard the spacecraft Bebop, is heavily influenced by American jazz music and cowboy themes. It debuted in 1998 and reached America in 2001.
Boy, I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand, Cowboy Bebop is my favorite anime of all time and I'd love to see some new material. On the other, I have to assume that Keanu Reeves is attached to this project with the intention of having him play Spike Spiegel, and I don't see him in that role. I can certainly see the studio watching the fight sequences in Bebop and immediately thinking "Hey, Keanu did that kinda stuff in the Matrix trilogy, let's get him!"Funny thing: The Bebop movie opened in Baltimore about the same time that The Matrix Reloaded was in theaters and I saw them fairly close together. One thing that struck me was that the aerial chase/dogfight in Bebop was a lot more exciting than the freeway chase/battle in Reloaded.Now, what I'd really like to see is another 13 episodes of the Bebop anime. Because it's not as tightly-linear as a lot of series, they could easily do another batch that fit between the existing 26 without doing anything that would screw up the ending.
I'm with Paul1963. Keanu stay out of the film! You have the acting range of a stoned doll. Hopefully this doesn't go anywhere (like many Hollywood projects). Reeves would do better to back another anime season of Bebop of another anime movie.
Keanu is nearly 45 and his middle aged-ness is starting to show, Spike Spiegel is 27. The day when Keanu would've been good for the role is past, if Keanu really wants to stay faithful to Bebop he would know better. PS I love the idea of new bebop episodes, though!