Cowboy Bebop is getting a live-action remake on Netflix. The streaming giant is dedicated to expanding its reach worldwide, and that has recently meant even more focus on anime-related projects. With their latest announcement, they’ve secured the rights to one of the more popular Japanese animated series.
Cowboy Bebop first debuted in 1997 and only ran for 26 episodes, but the Sunrise series has remained a huge part of anime since. The story follows a group of bounty hunters that go after some of their futuristic world’s most wanted criminals. The team consists of Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, and Radical Ed. Although the series was short lived, the world has continued on in various forms over the years. Now with the help of Netflix, Cowboy Bebop will receive a brand new outlet for stories.
Netflix just announced that they’ve partnered with Tomorrow Studios (a partnership between Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios) to get a live-action Cowboy Bebop series off the ground. The series has been in the works since last year and has now been given the greenlight at Netflix. The first season will consist of 10 episodes, with Christopher Yost writing the first. The series has Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio executive producing, while original series director Shinichiro Watanabe is consulting. Check out the brief announcement teaser below:
In addition to the previously mentioned producers, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios; Yasuo Miyakawa, Masayuki Ozaki, and Shin Sasaki of Sunrise Inc; Tetsu Fujimura and Matthew Weinberg will serve as executive producers on the new Cowboy Bebop series. Of course, news of any remake comes with some who are worried that the new take could somehow damage the brand if not done correctly. With the series viewed as a remake of the anime and Watanabe’s involvement, fans of the original series should likely not expect too many changes to the source material. However, since the original show only lasted 26 episodes, there’s the chance that a third season and beyond of Cowboy Bebop (should it get that far) could end up telling new stories.
Overall, the addition of Cowboy Bebop to Netflix’s upcoming slate is part of a larger plan to add more anime content. They just recently announced that all of Neon Genesis Evangelion is coming to their service next year. Adi Shankar is also bringing a Devil May Cry anime series to Netflix at some point in the future too, so they’re aggressively adding content in this sphere to grow their existing library.
MORE: Every Anime Available To Watch On Netflix
Source: Netflix
