Cowboy Bebop

[Saya]

It's coming.


Exclusive: LIVE-ACTION 'COWBOY BEBOP' MOVIE IS IN THE WORKS (http://ifmagazine.com/new.asp?article=6571)

We caught up with producer-extraordinaire Erwin Stoff at the NBC TCAs where he was promoting his upcoming updated-David-and-Goliath-based show KINGS. When asked about other projects he is currently working on, Stoff, let slip some very juicy news about a very beloved anime franchise.

“I’m developing COWBOY BEBOP for Fox, but doing it as a live-action film, so I’m working on that at the moment,” Stoff tells iF. “I’m really excited to be working on it, and it’s in the really early stages. We just signed it the other day.”

Before any of you BEBOP fanboys/fangirls get your skivvies in a twist about yet another questionable anime-to-human adaptation (see: DRAGONBALL), iF made sure to get an oath of fidelity to the original material from Stoff.

“I have such an enormous admiration for its creators, that our first and foremost concern is going to be a real degree of faithfulness to the tone of the movie, to the mix of genres, and so on and so forth,” he says. “When I met with them in Japan, one of the first things that I brought up was the experience that we had on A SCANNER DARKLY, and how hard we worked to remain faithful to Philip K. Dick, and that was our big concern here.”

For those skeptical about the casting possibilities, Stoff has the following to say: “Flak about choices is meaningless until people see the movie," he notes. "When people see the movie, then criticism has a place in it.”

Does Stoff think that American audiences that aren’t familiar with the anime will have trouble getting aboard?

“No, I really don’t think they will,” says Scoff. “I think they haven’t [gotten aboard] with the anime because it’s had limited exposure - it’s just been on Adult Swim, and so on. I think the ability to tell this larger frame - the ability to build a world that’s iconically American in its Western nature - I don’t think so at all.”

[Skitch]

Please don't suck please don't suck please don't suck...

[EyesWideOpen]

"Does Stoff think that American audiences that aren’t familiar with the anime will have trouble getting aboard? "

What? Does this reporter know anything about the anime it's probably as far as the storyline goes the most US friendly anime out there. It's a space western for chrissakes.

[Sycophant]

Hmmm... This guy's Keanu Reeves's manager. Chances of him being cast as Spike?

A film adaptation should be interesting at the very least, due to the series's rambling tone. Willing to give it a shot, though. In the right hands, it could have potential.

[D_Davis]

I'll pass.

Just make another animated film, thank you.

[Saya]

Hmmm... This guy's Keanu Reeves's manager. Chances of him being cast as Spike?


:eek: I can see that happening.

I do hope they have Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts do the soundtrack!

[monolith94]

ooohhhh... noooo…

there's just way too much story for a two hour film. no.

[Dukefrukem]

Please don't suck please don't suck please don't suck...

it will...

[Sycophant]

:eek: I can see that happening.

I do hope they have Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts do the soundtrack!
Why get Yoko Kanno when you can get James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, maybe John Williams, or any of the other four Hollywoodites who do soundtracks.

[Watashi]

Whatever happened to the live-action Akira film with DiCaprio?

[D_Davis]

Whatever happened to the live-action Akira film with DiCaprio?


Gary Whitta, co-host of the Game Theory podcast and writer, finished the script awhile ago.

He was talking about it during the writer's strike, which delayed the process.

[Saya]

Why get Yoko Kanno when you can get James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, maybe John Williams, or any of the other four Hollywoodites who do soundtracks.

They try to make the live action movie as faithful as possible to the tone of the anime series. Using the original composer would help a lot with that.

Eh but who am I kidding...:(

[D_Davis]

They try to make the live action movie as faithful as possible to the tone of the anime series. Using the original composer would help a lot with that.

Psst...I think he was being sarcastic.

[Saya]

Psst...I think he was being sarcastic.

Yeah, I caught it too late. Was gonna edit my post but you already had a reply up. :P

But he's probably right though. Are there any movies with a musical tone like Bebop? Maybe the general audience thinks jazz is too old fashioned? And a name like John Williams, Danny Elfman would bring a lot more attention to the movie than some Japanese composer.

[D_Davis]

You want a kick ass jazz score? Better hire Kenny G.

[Winston*]

I do not understand live-actioning anime. This is not something that makes sense to me.

[Grouchy]

I do not understand live-actioning anime. This is not something that makes sense to me.
Thank you. I was going to say the exact same thing.

Then again, I loved Speed Racer. But I doubt all these anime-to-live-action things are as creative as that one.

[MadMan]

No. Just no. I'm fully against this idea 100%.

[Qrazy]

Please don't suck please don't suck please don't suck...

How could this not suck? This has suck written all over it, as does an Akira adaptation.

[Sxottlan]

This (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=51989) was on the web days ago, so I'm assuming it's just one of those things we're trying to pretend isn't happening:

Keanu Reeves is Spike.

[Dukefrukem]

hahaha! perfect!

[lovejuice]

i bet i'm the biggest manga/anime geek in this part of the world, but i've never understood the love for cowboy bebop. one of a few animes i don't even care to finish.

[Sycophant]

Actually, Reeves isn't a bad pick for Spike, if they can make him appear to move something like Bruce Lee.

[Watashi]

i bet i'm the biggest manga/anime geek in this part of the world, but i've never understood the love for cowboy bebop. one of a few animes i don't even care to finish.

:crazy:

Granted, I'm still getting into anime outside of Miyazaki, but Cowboy Bebop is just incredible on nearly every level.

[EyesWideOpen]

Actually, Reeves isn't a bad pick for Spike, if they can make him appear to move something like Bruce Lee.

They made it work in The Matrix.

[number8]

They made it work in The Matrix.

He didn't move like Bruce Lee in Matrix. He had a stiff fighting style the entire time.

[Sycophant]

Yeah.

Still I'm curious about the scope of this project. Cowboy Bebop doesn't really have one "story" to tell, unless you were to boil it down to Faye's past or Spike/Julia and the syndicate. And neither story is particularly novel, nor are they really all that compelling without the familiarity acquired over the course of 13 hours.

[number8]

Yeah.

Still I'm curious about the scope of this project. Cowboy Bebop doesn't really have one "story" to tell, unless you were to boil it down to Faye's past or Spike/Julia and the syndicate. And neither story is particularly novel, nor are they really all that compelling without the familiarity acquired over the course of 13 hours.

For these movies, the best ones are those that invent their own stories. Straight adaptations are boring.

[EvilShoe]

No want.

[MadMan]

:crazy:

Granted, I'm still getting into anime outside of Miyazaki, but Cowboy Bebop is just incredible on nearly every level.I'll go one further and admit that I'm not much of an anime fan. But I love Cowboy Bebop. The show and the full length movie are both awesome.

[Dukefrukem]

haha


There's a draft of the script, but the writer did such a great job...in order to make the movie you would need half a billion dollars.
The studio kinda just went: 'This script is fantastic - and it would cost half a billion dollars! So he's doing a rewrite.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/439344/keanu-talks-cowboy-bebop.jhtml

[Sycophant]

If they don't use Yoko Kanno music for this, I have a hard time seeing the point.

[Ezee E]

How long until a movie is funded a half billion dollars? I say within the next decade.

[Grouchy]

How long until a movie is funded a half billion dollars? I say within the next decade.
Less than 10 years, methinks.

How much did Avatar cost?

[number8]

If they don't use Yoko Kanno music for this, I have a hard time seeing the point.

This.

[[ETM]]

Less than 10 years, methinks.

How much did Avatar cost?

300-ish? I suspect most people think it's more.