3 COMMENTS
Live Action Cowboy Bebop movie +
A live action version of Cowboy Bebop is in the works by FOX. Truthfully, I’m more concerned with this movie being good than with Dragonball, which is also being developed by FOX.
Erwin Stoff is the director. He is best known for his work on The Matrix, and A Scanner Darkly. So while I don’t doubt he can deliver, staying true to the anime from Sunrise is going to be the greatest concern. Upon meeting with Stoff, the parties involved quickly brought up his experience with A Scanner Darkly, and how he stayed extremely faithful to the original work by Philip K. Dick.
Cowboy Bebop ranks in the top 3 of my favorite anime of all time. Galaxy Express 999 and Boogiepop Phantom sit there as well. So for now, this is reassurance that he won’t wreck one of my favorite anime of all time.
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LAME!!! I will never watch this.
I don’t see it that way… initially that is. In order for anime to become accepted by mainstream (which has its pros and cons) stuff like this needs to take place. Honestly, I can’t really think of a better way to introduce anime to people that normally wouldn’t have anything to do with it.
But I also think that by making these adaptations, there is a big chance of loosing the artist/writers original feel in order to appeal to a larger market. I don’t agree with that. The speed racer movie is a perfect example of that.
Why should anime go mainstream? We have seen anime companies stateside in trouble long before this “recession” in America started taking place. It’s partly due to them not adapting with the times, but its also because anime doesn’t have the mainstream appeal it does in Japan.
Thats why, whenever I can, i choose to support the companies behind such projects. I watch Nana via Netflix even though I’m sure I can find it via Bittorrent or some other site. Doing it legally allows the companies to be able to continue to bring movies like Nana to an English speaking audience.
I’m skeptical, but this probably has the best chance of being successful compared to almost any other Anime series. I know a lot of people who don’t really like Anime, but love Cowboy Bebop. The show already has a broad appeal because the characters, situations, and setting (aside from being in the future) are not entirely foreign to the West. That being said, I don’t imagine the movie-goer who likes this Cowboy Bebop movie will necessarily be interested in what else Anime has to offer.
The principle characters, for instance, don’t have foreign-sounding names like Goku, Keitaro, Sakura, and so forth. They have Western-sounding names like Spike Spiegel, Jett Black, Faye Valentive, Edward, and Julia. Some minor characters have exotic names, but considering that the Cowboy Bebop universe is a giant melting-pot, it’s not a huge issue.
Likewise, the underlying elements of the Anime, which combine science fiction with film noir, are also not “out-there” for Western audiences. For a live-action movie, the only thing that may need toning down is the comedy, which sometimes has that Japanese sensibility. But even then, I don’t remember that being a huge issue overall.
Having watched the entire series again this last month, I worry most about the story. The director can say that he’ll be faithful to the source, but there’s too much Cowboy Bebop material. Each episode is self-contained, while also adding to a larger story concluding in the final two episodes. What will his approach be? Unless this is planned to span multiple movies, I just don’t see it working out well.
I’m definitely interested, but color me pensively-realistic.
Well put. I have to agree that Cowboy Bebop isn’t necessarily the “traditional” anime. I think Cowboy Bebop was the first time I gave Jazz / Acid Jazz a chance. I’m usually not one for purchasing anime soundtracks, but I had to buy that one, and it’s still in my car even today.
But like introducing anything to the mainstream, you have to start slow. Cowboy Bebop may have been a good choice for the reasons you stated Jeff. Maybe if the media chooses to remind audiences that this was a story based upon an anime, it will make people think twice about anime. We need a few good titles to do well at the box office.
Leonardo Dicaprio is working on Akira at the moment I believe. I’m a bit scared for that… even though Dicaprio is a good actor. Iconic movies like Akira and Speed Racer are pivotal for anime to crossover. And right now, we are 0 for 1.
wow, this should prove interesting.
Its going to be either a huge flop or a big success kind of thing. I liked the anime back then and now I think its great that something new from the series is coming. I just hope its decent.
Heh, I really think we need to do an email discussion and post it on our respective blogs. I have more thoughts and I want to continue this interesting line of discussion with you, but comments just don’t seem like the right place to do it.
damn all this live action anime movies
[...] question popped into my head upon reading some of the comments on the Cowboy Bebop movie thread, and more recently I was reminded about it a comment on my Shoko Nakagawa post earlier [...]
Is this really necassary. Making a work of art like anime live action seems kind of pointless. The animated movie was awesome.