Cowboy Bebop Movie is Apparently Dead

[Scott Tortorice]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! :hissyfit::OHNO:

Keanu Reeves Isn't Optimistic About 'Cowboy Bebop' Movie

When asked where things have gone since our last interview, Reeves let loose with a loud groan. "Nowhere," he said. "It hasn't been working."

"Every time [the script] comes back, it's still a gazillion dollars," he laughed. "Every time they try to pare it down, it's like, 'Well, that's not the film, what about the other kajillion?'"

Budget and script issues aside, the 46-year-old Reeves admitted that he might be getting a little too old to play bounty hunter Spike Spiegel, the story's main character.

"I'm getting too old to play Spike," he said, joking that at this point, he'd be more fit to "play Spike's older brother."

"Cowboy Bebop" currently has no release date.

This is so much BS! Cameron can spend $300 million on his Avatar after school special, but the studio can't find the cash for some real science fiction? I truly believe this has nothing to do with the money. I suspect the Cowboy Bebop scripts read like a serious Blade Runner-styled, noir science fiction story (like the actual anime) and the studio suits can't wrap their mind around it. "Where's the big blue guys? Where's the clones? Duh....:nuts:"

 

[L`zard]

This sux!

:OHNO::upset::OHNO:

 

[Scott Tortorice]

My only consolation is the belief that they probably would have screwed it up anyway. When the first re-write was announced, I already was getting very skeptical.

What's Peter Jackson up to? Or Tobey Macguire? I'd bet these two could get a CB movie off the ground in style (pun intended).

 

[kawaiku]

I wonder if the people putting stops on this realize how big the Cowboy Bebop fanbase really is not to mention how many people want a smart sci-fi movie/series again (much like District-9's counter-balance to Avatar).

As much as I'd like to see the movie made (it really makes me wonder where it is placed within the time-frame of the series), I am not ashamed to say I wish we got a short OVA that depicts what happened after the last episode.

And I was really looking forward to seeing a good big budget live-action adaptation of an anime. I know Japan does a lot of live-actions for animes, basically the animes in "real-life" form. Though you could say Firefly was like a spiritual spin-off of Cowboy Bebop and was/is one of the few decent series as of late.

 

[GrumpyWargamer]

It's anime, and every time I see an anime being 'interpreted' by anyone at all Hollywood I get really skeptical.

Them not screwing it up is more about random chance than skill.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

I wonder if the people putting stops on this realize how big the Cowboy Bebop fanbase really is not to mention how many people want a smart sci-fi movie/series again (much like District-9's counter-balance to Avatar).

I agree. That is why I am *convinced* that this has nothing to do with the cost of the movie (I am sure FOX already researched the brand and realized what an international hot commodity it is. They will be able to recoup almost all the costs in foreign distribution alone). Rather, this is all about an iconoclastic story that breaks with the kiddie-friendly sci-fi of Avatar, Transformers, and Star Wars / Star Trek. It's the same old rotten story.

It's anime, and every time I see an anime being 'interpreted' by anyone at all Hollywood I get really skeptical.

Them not screwing it up is more about random chance than skill.

I agree. I was a bit more optimistic about this, though, because the original anime team was closely involved, and the initial $500 million price tag seemed to suggest that they were going to truly realize the CB solar system.

Oh well. There is always a chance that when the economy recovers, the project will be back on track. Bad economies make studios risk adverse, I suppose.

 

[kawaiku]

I agree. That is why I am *convinced* that this has nothing to do with the cost of the movie (I am sure FOX already researched the brand and realized what an international hot commodity it is. They will be able to recoup almost all the costs in foreign distribution alone). Rather, this is all about an iconoclastic story that breaks with the kiddie-friendly sci-fi of Avatar, Transformers, and Star Wars / Star Trek. It's the same old rotten story.

Have you heard of any quotes or articles describing this??

I agree. I was a bit more optimistic about this, though, because the original anime team was closely involved, and the initial $500 million price tag seemed to suggest that they were going to truly realize the CB solar system.

Oh well. There is always a chance that when the economy recovers, the project will be back on track. Bad economies make studios risk adverse, I suppose.

Same here, the fact that they brought along some of the team who made the show looked like they were going to be serious about the project. Maybe it is the bad economy but so far it doesn't seem to have stopped other people from making big budget films but who knows.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Have you heard of any quotes or articles describing this??

Nah, that's the type of thing they don't discuss in public. It's just a hunch based on Hollywood history and the remarks of Peter Jackson vis-a-vis the aborted Halo movie (same studio, IIRC).

Same here, the fact that they brought along some of the team who made the show looked like they were going to be serious about the project. Maybe it is the bad economy but so far it doesn't seem to have stopped other people from making big budget films but who knows.

Oh, they still make big budget stuff, but it is all safe material - endless sequels and family friendly 3-D rubbish. CB is so beloved precisely because it is thoroughly unique, at least outside of sci-fi literature. As a movie, it is as much an unknown quantity as Blade Runner was, and we all know the torturous process that went through before it was finally accepted as a visionary classic.

 

[kawaiku]

Nah, that's the type of thing they don't discuss in public. It's just a hunch based on Hollywood history and the remarks of Peter Jackson vis-a-vis the aborted Halo movie (same studio, IIRC).

Ah you got a point then. I liked the sound of the Halo movie that was proposed only to see it get shot down. Amazing, and the furor over the ads done with the grungy live-action commercials should have been a big enough sign... (Just read the youtube comments for cryin out loud!)

Oh, they still make big budget stuff, but it is all safe material - endless sequels and family friendly 3-D rubbish. CB is so beloved precisely because it is thoroughly unique, at least outside of sci-fi literature. As a movie, it is as much an unknown quantity as Blade Runner was, and we all know the torturous process that went through before it was finally accepted as a visionary classic.

Haha good point. And indeed but it already has an established fan base and afaik Blade Runner came straight from a book right??

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Ah you got a point then. I liked the sound of the Halo movie that was proposed only to see it get shot down. Amazing, and the furor over the ads done with the grungy live-action commercials should have been a big enough sign... (Just read the youtube comments for cryin out loud!)

Hollywood is currently run by money-grubbing idiots. It's as simple as that. Hence...Avatar.

Haha good point. And indeed but it already has an established fan base and afaik Blade Runner came straight from a book right??

Blade Runner was very loosely based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Ridley Scott took a lot of liberties with it from what I understand (the term "Blade Runner" doesn't even come from that book but a different one).

 

[kawaiku]

Hollywood is currently run by money-grubbing idiots. It's as simple as that. Hence...Avatar.

True true.

Blade Runner was very loosely based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Ridley Scott took a lot of liberties with it from what I understand (the term "Blade Runner" doesn't even come from that book but a different one).

Haha wow... didn't know that. Interesting movie nonetheless.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Just happened to find this cool CB illustration. I think it sums up the show perfectly:

View attachment 31265

So noir-cool! A natural for the big screen. Sigh.

 

[kawaiku]

Indeed it is. Watching the series right now actually while doing some HW.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Caught an episode of CB last night.

<sigh>

View attachment 34287

Perhaps someday (Sept 4010 seems about right )....

BTW: update:

That’s the question that we all want to know here at Splash Page, so when we recently sat down with Reeves to discuss his new movie "Henry's Crime," we asked him for a "Bebop" update -- and it was more encouraging than we admittedly expected.

“You know, I spoke with some people . . .” the actor told MTV News. “I had some conversations. I believe there’s still knocking on that door, but it has not opened.”

MTV News first covered the possibility of a live action “Cowboy Bebop” movie with Reeves in 2008. At the time, he told us simply: “We’re trying to do that.”

More word came in 2009, when we were told the script was almost complete. We’ve had a few other run-ins with “Bebop,” and in September of last year Reeves talked to MTV News about it, saying he wasn’t optimistic. He said they were going “Nowhere.”

While Reeves’ latest conversation with us isn’t too detailed, "knocking on the door" certainly sounds better than "nowhere."

 

[Kevin Kenneally]

I won't watch it....