Cowboy Bebop is an acclaimed 1998 Japanese anime series developed by Sunrise. It featured a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane and composer Yoko Kanno. The twenty-six episodes (“sessions”) of the series comprise a complete storyline set in the year 2071. It follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of a bounty hunter (“cowboy”) crew travelling on the Bebop, their spaceship. Cowboy Bebop also explores several philosophical concepts including existentialism, loneliness, and existential ennui. Despite its setting in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop inhabits an "organic, lived in, and believable" universe that "feels familiar to modern audiences" due to its anachronistic setting. Throughout the series several planets and space stations are all shown to be remade in the Earth’s image. The streets of celestial objects such as Ganymede resemble any modern port city, while Mars is replete with shopping malls, theme parks, casinos and cities. Cowboy Bebop's universe is filled with video players and hyperspace gates, eco-politics and fairgrounds, spaceships and Native American shamans. Futuristic elements are combined with the modern elements, "allowing audiences to easily connect with the Cowboy Bebop world". The series covered genres which included comedy, detective caper and action thriller. The musical style was emphasized in many of the episode titles, which were in English, such as: "Asteroid Blues," "Honky Tonk Woman," "Ballad of Fallen Angels," "Heavy Metal Queen," "Jamming With Edward," "Jupiter Jazz" and "Mushroom Samba". The anime draws heavily on Western sources, such as pulp detective stories, film noir, and American Westerns. There are also strong Hong Kong influences, mainly of the "heroic bloodshed" mold which includes films such as The Killer or Hard Boiled. Cowboy Bebop is considered to be an anime masterpiece. A 2004 poll in Newtype USA, the US edition of the Japanese magazine Newtype, asked its readers to rank the "Top 25 Anime Titles of All Time"; Cowboy Bebop placed second on the list (after Neon Genesis Evangelion), placing it as one of the most socially relevant and influential anime series ever created.
The American Anime magazine Anime Insider (No. 50, November 2007) ranked the 50 Best Anime by compiling lists of industry regulars and magazine staff, with Cowboy Bebop ranked as #1 of all time.
On July 22, 2008, IF Magazine published an article on its website regarding a rumor of a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie in development by 20th Century Fox. Producer Erwin Stoff said that the film's development was in the early stages, and that they had "just signed it". Keanu Reeves had been confirmed as playing the role of Spike Spiegel.[38][39] Variety confirmed on January 15, 2009, that the production company Sunrise Animation would be "closely involved with the development of the English language project." The site also confirmed Kenji Uchida, Shinichiro Watanabe, and series writer Keiko Nobumoto as associate producers, series producer Masahiko Minami as a production consultant, and Peter Craig as screenwriter. This has been lauded by various sources, as a promising move for the potential quality of the film[40] At the time it was slated to release in 2011, but problems with the budget delayed its production. The script that was submitted was sent back for rewrite to reduce the cost and little has been heard about it since an interview with producer Joshua Long on October 15, 2010; and the project currently languishes in "development hell".

I actually remember seeing the online meeting with several Staff heads, other stagehands, writers, directors, gaffers, grips, and interns who loved the show. I wasn't there because I didn't know what "Cowboy Bebop" was, but I thought "Why is it so good, that They would want a live action movie on it?" I first watched it, and I adored it. I promise that everything in the threadactually happened, and that it's more than "A stupid Idea that was made by a conceited stagehand." like my other thread.

Keanu Reeves as Spike Speigel. Nothing less than epic. Tell me what you think about the casting.

They need a guy that has a more similar voice to Spike. There are tons of people who probably look like him, so it's not doubtful they could find someone who could also impersonate his voice. If they could find people who looks exactly like the people they want, who could impersonate their voices and could act good, I feel that it'd be good.

Huh. I though Keanu Reeves was in The Matrix. Badass movie, but I don't wanna see Cowboy Bebop movie, I've seen the show on Adult Swim.

Have you guys ever had Cowboy Bebop's Special: Bell-peppers and beef? I tried it and it was delicious.

>>5 I could fucking careless what you don't want to see.

>>3 I can support that.

Now, this isn't like my last thread. This is not just an idea. This is all official, and the Keanu Reeves Casting is Official, too. Just wanna let you all know. Unlike the Fullmetal Alchemist Movie idea I had, this is real and official and very promising!

I can't be sure that I'd like Keanu as Spike, but oh well. Hope he pulls it off.

It does seem interesting enough, the combat in Cowboy Bebop isn't so different from the usual American action movies. It is just begging for a live-action adaptation.

Also, they simply MUST get Yoko Kanno as the composer. I wouldn't accept anyone else. Okay, maybe I will, but the music's gotta be like the original. And they have to put Tank! somewhere in that soundtrack.

I think it's time we blow this joint. Okay, 3, 2, 1, let's jam!

Keanu has gotten too old to play Spike. The man is 48 years old, Spike is in his late 20s. You can have age differences in Hollywood, but seriously. Besides, I don't think he can pull it off. The parts he does well are of a different kind, he's good as the stoic and I'm fairly convinced the part of Spike wouldn't fit him very well.

And despite this being a real idea it has been stuck in development hell for a really long time. In my opinion, the chances of it ever seeing the light of day are increasingly slim.

>>10 Yeah, that is true. But the guy still looks pretty young, Hollywood special effects artists have been working for decades for reasons like this. Also, I do believe that in some sort of context, that Keanu can do it. I mean ,Hell, if he can do The Matrix, one of the greatest films on the history of cinema, then he can surely can be Spike Spiegel.