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Brief interview with the screenwriter for the upcoming live action Cowboy Bebop film.
Reading the comments from the novelist-turned-screenwriter who's assigned the job of adapting the series to movie status, I'm feeling hopeful. He certainly sounds like he appreciates the spirit of the work, though I haven't read Peter Craig's books so I don't know if his actual writing is something to get crazy over. But enthusiasm is a good start. It also sounds like Watanabe and Studio Sunrise are involved with the development of the film--so far, at least--and that's also a positive sign.
Side note: I'm still ragingly skeptical about Reeves as a casting choice, because even though I actually like the guy he's not how I picture a live action Spike at all. He's ten years too old (movie Spike should be mid-30s, while anime Spike was jaded at 27), and he doesn't project the irreverent charm. Spike's a huge asshole for much of the series, but the reason we love him is that he's got this sarcastic slacker charm to balance it. Something to brighten the shadows and soften the edges of a mob-employed street thug turned self-employed space thug. Reeves is so deadpan serious in most of his movies that it's hard for me to imagine him bitching about bell-peppers-and-beef-without-the-beef one minute and getting into a name-calling exchange with Cowboy Andy the next. That being said, I do appreciate that KR is apparently driving the project with an eye that includes the original production studio, even if its only in consulting. Casting will matter a lot for this movie, because the only way it will ever 'succeed' as a part of CB media canon rather than as any generic spaceship action movie is if the characters have the right chemistry. Bebop was just as much about the pathetic daily lives of its crew as it was about catching bounties and shooting stuff (hence my unshakeable secret belief that CB and Firefly are literally part of the same verse.)
Casting poential blunders aside, I've always thought that Bebop was one of the most--if not still THE most--easily translateable anime series for Western audiences. And deliberately so, thematically and visually. More to the point, the bounty-of-the-week format makes it easily translatable to film, or a franchise of films. The could not have found a better source anime with which to make an Americanized/Westernized live action adaptation. However, Bebop was not without its problems. Pacing is the biggest flaw of the series, and underdeveloped supporting characters is another. A live action film could smooth these problems out, or exacerbate them. In that sense, I think it's better if the original studio is brought on for style choices more than for the actual storywriting.
Reading the comments from the novelist-turned-screenwriter who's assigned the job of adapting the series to movie status, I'm feeling hopeful. He certainly sounds like he appreciates the spirit of the work, though I haven't read Peter Craig's books so I don't know if his actual writing is something to get crazy over. But enthusiasm is a good start. It also sounds like Watanabe and Studio Sunrise are involved with the development of the film--so far, at least--and that's also a positive sign.
Side note: I'm still ragingly skeptical about Reeves as a casting choice, because even though I actually like the guy he's not how I picture a live action Spike at all. He's ten years too old (movie Spike should be mid-30s, while anime Spike was jaded at 27), and he doesn't project the irreverent charm. Spike's a huge asshole for much of the series, but the reason we love him is that he's got this sarcastic slacker charm to balance it. Something to brighten the shadows and soften the edges of a mob-employed street thug turned self-employed space thug. Reeves is so deadpan serious in most of his movies that it's hard for me to imagine him bitching about bell-peppers-and-beef-without-the-beef one minute and getting into a name-calling exchange with Cowboy Andy the next. That being said, I do appreciate that KR is apparently driving the project with an eye that includes the original production studio, even if its only in consulting. Casting will matter a lot for this movie, because the only way it will ever 'succeed' as a part of CB media canon rather than as any generic spaceship action movie is if the characters have the right chemistry. Bebop was just as much about the pathetic daily lives of its crew as it was about catching bounties and shooting stuff (hence my unshakeable secret belief that CB and Firefly are literally part of the same verse.)
Casting poential blunders aside, I've always thought that Bebop was one of the most--if not still THE most--easily translateable anime series for Western audiences. And deliberately so, thematically and visually. More to the point, the bounty-of-the-week format makes it easily translatable to film, or a franchise of films. The could not have found a better source anime with which to make an Americanized/Westernized live action adaptation. However, Bebop was not without its problems. Pacing is the biggest flaw of the series, and underdeveloped supporting characters is another. A live action film could smooth these problems out, or exacerbate them. In that sense, I think it's better if the original studio is brought on for style choices more than for the actual storywriting.
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