Cowboy Beebop Live Action Movie...

Don't know if anyone posted this yet, but get ready to rage...
Keanu Eager to Play Spike Spiegel

Keanu Reeves, who stars in the box office-topping remake The Day the Earth Stood Still, talked about the progress that producer Erwin Stoff, who has worked exclusively with Reeves for the past two decades, has made on a live action remake of Shinichiro Watanabe and Keiko Nobumoto’s anime sensation Cowboy Bebop in an interview with MTV. Reeves told MTV that he was eager to play Cowboy Bebop protagonist and futuristic space cowboy, Spike Spiegel. “We’ve got the rights, we’ve got a writer, and he’s putting together a scene outline,” Reeves told MTV about the Cowboy Bebop project, which is set up at Fox.



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Jam it back in, in the dark.

I had heard about this when browsing kffcinema (also heard about the filming for the KOF movie)
I thought it was just a rumor though. I was never a huge fan of the series, either way they keep putting reeves in these high budget movies even if the movie is bad atleast there will be a good cg scene

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Sure, if we're going to be doing this thing it might as well be with a poofy-haired Keanu Reeves. Maybe while they're at it they'll cast Hugo Weaving as Jet Black, Vicious, and Ein.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Interesting...I can't wait to hear how Keanu's accent goes for Spike lol. As for the rest of the characters... I was thinking maybe Benicio Del Toro to do the job. If anyone watched Sin City, his character and outfit speaks for itself.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'd be shocked if this turned out well with any actor unless they just got someone who looked like Spike and dubbed in Steve Blum's voice, so I'm fine with Keanu. At least with him in the lead there's practically a guarantee of the acting being so bad it's amusing to watch.

If I was going to rage at anything it'd be the title of this thread. I mean, you could've at least checked the spelling on the 17 words you typed.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Regarding the opening post, I've never understood why people get angry (Or are in fact surprised) when a film version of their favourite game/book/anime doesn't turn out exactly the same as the source material. I mean, if you're making a film version of something, surely the whole point is that you're adapting it to give it wider market appeal. In the case of an albeit popular anime series like Cowboy Beebop, it strikes me as entirely fucking pointless to make something that appeals to fans of the original as they've all already seen it, they know what's going to happen, there's no fucking way on Earth you could ever appease them anyway and frankly, there's not enough of them to make any money back off them.

The only people who'd watch an exact remake of Cowboy Beebob in live action form would be fans of the original. Why? Because the people who've not seen the original didn't for a reason, either because they don't like anime films (And what's to say they'd like them any better with real actors who looked and sounded exactly like the ones in the anime instead of cartoon characters) or because they watched a few episodes and thought it was pretty dull or something.

I'm sure there are quite a few fans of the anime who are of the die hard breed who get angry when this kind of thing happens but are there enough to make enough money from a live action version that only they watched to cover the cost of a Hollywood movie? No chance.

Instead, in order to make money (Which despite what some of you might think, is the basic aim of pretty much everyone making movies these days. Doing it for the love of the art or whatever happens but not in the case of live action anime remakes) they have to give the film more wide appeal. This means shipping in some big name talent, chopping out most of the rambling story so you can fit the film in under a couple of hours and normally, Americanising the whole thing.

I mean, that's just obvious isn't it? It must be because it happens every time a book or game or comic or anime or whatever is turned into a movie and yet for some inexplicable reason you still get a bunch of fans of the original actually getting angry about it like you've p[ersonally insulted their family or something.

If you don't like it, don't go see it, simple as that. I really will never understand nerd-rage.

That said, I do hope this is a little more fast paced than the anime which I watched a few episodes of and found pretty dull. I'm not a huge fan of episodic stuff at the best of times and I found this pretty hard going. There's obviously a big budget ready to spent though for them to have secured Keanu Reeves so I'm sure it'll look nice at least.

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If Yoko Kanno isn't scoring this, then I won't watch the film. She is the only person who really captures the mood of CB. Without her it isn't Bebop. Period.

FELIPE NO

I don't really like Keanu as an actor, so the casting is anything but thrilling, but like Josh said, if they don't use Kanno's soundtrack, then its not really Bebop, which I am more concerned about. Even if they get actors that live up to the role, if they change the entire visual and audio tone from the original material, why bother?

Still, my reaction to this isn't as bad as the Live action Avatar the last airbender casting that was announced weeks ago.... Check Wiki for more info on that.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Josh_1

If Yoko Kanno isn't scoring this, then I won't watch the film. She is the only person who really captures the mood of CB. Without her it isn't Bebop. Period.

But what if they found another composer who wrote even better music! You'd be shooting yourself in the foot a bit then huh?

And anyway, just because it might not be true to your beloved Beebop, doesn't mean it won't be a good film in it's own right. The Lord of the Rings films cut huge chunks out of the story but I kinda enjoyed them anyway you know.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I don't mind if chunks of the story is taken out, because its obvious it will happen. I think the visual and audio style of the show that should be retained as much as possible for the movie.

Even if they do hire a new composer, they should retain the musical style of the show no less. That's how I see it at least.

Though I admit if the trailer doesn't even try to use the theme song TANK!, I dunno if I can stomach seeing the real thing. I mean, the music is there and done, and every Bebop fan will regonise it.... It would be like a new Star Wars trailer not using their own music.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I can see the attachment some fans can have to the show but seriously, are we to believe that they would re-create the series step by step in movie form.
To tell you the truth, even though a pic or trailer isn't out yet, I don't see this being a complete flop of a film. If the matrix was any indication of anything, is that the bebop world is completely capable of being recreated in live action along with some decent star wars flight battles with jazzy tracks.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I agree with Kairi Li. Kanno's music identifies Bebop more than anything. Just like John Williams' music defines Star Wars... And to be honest I don't think any other composer could beat Yoko Kanno's score. I think the only other way to be able to come close would be for them to hire Herbie Hancock to score the film.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

It's not about beating her score. It's the fact that we want to hear Cowboy Bebop music in a Cowboy Bebop movie. So no Kanno, no go.

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Originally Posted by Phatcorns

It's not about beating her score. It's the fact that we want to hear Cowboy Bebop music in a Cowboy Bebop movie. So no Kanno, no go.

But as I said earlier, they're not making it for people like you are they?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I was raging at the whole Keanu Reeves thing, lets just say I'm not a big fan of his and don't see him fit to the role very well (he's been typecasted a lot recently and I don't see Spike as his sort of typecast)

I'm actually looking forward to the movie.

FELIPE NO

Rage still seems an odd emotion though. Disappointment or surprise would be fair enough really but for it to actually make you angry suggests you're a little too into Cowboy Beebop than it's normal for a person to be into a tv show.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Keanu Reeves as Spike and it's being done by Fox. Yep, it'll be awful.

How ya doing, buddy?

I have to wonder though, if they're not making the movie for anime fans, then who is the their target audience? If its people who never heard of Bebop in the first place, why not just make something original that's inspired by Bebop instead? Like Shin said, we're not the target market, so why bother going to all that trouble and money to buy the licence? Its not like they waltz into Sunrise and immediatly get the rights, it must have been alot of work and money.

I just find it a little hard to believe that so much paperwork and money was used just so people who never heard of Bebop can see a live action version of it, and the anime fanbase is not even considered to be a tiny fraction of their market.

People would say "well that's cause they wanna show Bebop to a broader audience!". Ok, fine, but what is the point of adapting Bebop if in the end, it doesn't look or sound like it? Might as well make something original, cause we all know Hollywood needs it.

The difference between LOTR and this is that, LOTR never really had a major visual representation except a few cartoons, so they came up with music and the looks on their own and it was good. But Bebop already has a visual and audio representation, which makes me wonder why bother at all if they don't intend on using the music and similar designs. If anything, this saves companies alot of money since it already exists.

Its like when games get made into anime and they use the game soundtracks. Air, Kanon, Clannad, and Tales of Abyss did that.

Of course this is still tentative, maybe they will get Kanno back and the design of the film will be just like the show. Who knows?

How ya doing, buddy?

Easier to sweep in the non-target audience by just slapping the name of the original property on it and not having to bother with the trouble of actually creating something new.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Quote:

Cowboy Beebop

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Kairi Li

I have to wonder though, if they're not making the movie for anime fans, then who is the their target audience? If its people who never heard of Bebop in the first place, why not just make something original that's inspired by Bebop instead? Like Shin said, we're not the target market, so why bother going to all that trouble and money to buy the licence? Its not like they waltz into Sunrise and immediatly get the rights, it must have been alot of work and money.

I just find it a little hard to believe that so much paperwork and money was used just so people who never heard of Bebop can see a live action version of it, and the anime fanbase is not even considered to be a tiny fraction of their market.

People would say "well that's cause they wanna show Bebop to a broader audience!". Ok, fine, but what is the point of adapting Bebop if in the end, it doesn't look or sound like it? Might as well make something original, cause we all know Hollywood needs it.

The difference between LOTR and this is that, LOTR never really had a major visual representation except a few cartoons, so they came up with music and the looks on their own and it was good. But Bebop already has a visual and audio representation, which makes me wonder why bother at all if they don't intend on using the music and similar designs. If anything, this saves companies alot of money since it already exists.

Its like when games get made into anime and they use the game soundtracks. Air, Kanon, Clannad, and Tales of Abyss did that.

Of course this is still tentative, maybe they will get Kanno back and the design of the film will be just like the show. Who knows?

They won't be abandoning the look and sound of the anime, they'll be following it, just not to the extent that a hardcore fan (i.e. someone who knows the name of the original composer) would want it. People here are suggesting that getting in a different composer will mean it's nothing like the cartoons but that's because they know the original so well. To someone like me who's seen a couple of episodes however, it's likely they can get close enough to the sound for me to not tell the difference or have my experience of the eventual movie lessened any. Likewise, if you're an ardent fan of the cartoons, I imagine that Keanu Reeves looks nothing like the dude but again, if memory serves the protagonist is a dude with black hair and an 80's haircut, I'm sure Keanu can manage that.



See?

I'm not suggesting that this will be a film aimed at people who've never ever heard of the show as that would be stupid but rather, they're trying to appeal to casual observers who are aware of the programme in a pretty vague sense and might be interested in seeing what it would be like as a Hollywood blockbuster, possibly because they're not overly interested in episodic animes.

Comparing this to companies making animes out of computer games is silly too because the market for both is pretty similar. People who play a lot of Japanese computer games, I would suggest are going to be into animes. The people making the animes are aiming the product at the games players and as such, they're going to try to stick as closely to the original source material as possible. If this film was going to be a low budget indy release then it would more than likely try to ape the cartoons as closely as possible as they'd make more money from getting every fan of the cartoon to watch it then they would from trying to drag in newcomers. As it is, it's a high budget Hollywood effort and they simply wouldn't make enough money from the original fanbase to cover costs, hence why they're going for wider market appeal.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Josh_1

If Yoko Kanno isn't scoring this, then I won't watch the film. She is the only person who really captures the mood of CB. Without her it isn't Bebop. Period.

I was wondering where this stupid shit originated.

Originally Posted by THE LAST MOTHERFUCKING PARAGRAPH OF THE ARTICLE

Creating the right “look” for the live action movie is of paramount concern for Reeves, who told MTV, that he thought Cowboy Bebop would be “a production designer’s dream. I think you just need a good production designer.” Fans of the Cowboy Bebop anime would add that “you also need to get Yoko Kanno to create the music for the live action movie.”

The best part is that you're probably getting a team with more respect for the source material than, say, that Dragon Ball movie. The "danger" of Kanno not scoring the film is in the head of some moron, that's just great.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'm actually more concern with Keanu's acting then his looks for the film, but maybe he will surprise me.

How ya doing, buddy?

It could be worse. I'd at least wait until production shots start showing up and more information is readily available. You can fret all you want and have the "lowest common denominator" explanation given to you for your troubles, or you can just look at the movie and have a good time with whatever comes out. Be it through criticism or actual enjoyment of the product.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Rotorblade

It could be worse.

Originally Posted by Rotorblade

Keanu Reeves.

But either way, live action adaptations are usually garbage, Hollywood, Japan or otherwise so whatever.

Jam it back in, in the dark.