Netflix set to release a live-action remake of Cowboy Bebop

[CAT5 9075]

Quote

 

Netflix confirmed that the rumours from last year were true and that a remake will be released globally in time to come. 
 

Announcing the news on Twitter, the streaming giant said: “Original anime creator Shinichiro Watanabe will he brought on to consult, too. The first episode is written by Thor: Ragnarok’s Chris Yost.”
 

The new series will consist of 10 episodes, which is 16 less than the original small-screen run two decades ago.

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/netflix-announce-liveaction-cowboy-bebop-remake-a4002241.html

https://www.gq.com/story/what-is-cowboy-bebop-and-why-is-netflix-making-a-new-one
https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/11/28/live-action-cowboy-bebop-series-headed-to-netflix

[IGM_Oficial 1964]

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO

[Bear 1817]

Not against this at all. Fucking love Netflix and how they work, and I'm positive towards a project like this.

[Ultra Silvam 217]

I'd prefer the series to be left alone. I don't hate live-action remakes and I can understand why some people like them, but I just prefer the anime. I hope they do this one justice.

[Zeus 7997]

Despite the optimism in posts above me about this announcement, I'm less than excited. Netflix may not do as bad of a job as previous studios have when adapting anime to live action films, but the debacle with Ciri in The Witcher adaptation proves to me that they're capable of losing the plot.

It's like the media doesn't learn it's lesson. I don't even care that Netflix is behind the helm. Time and time again, whenever they adapt an anime to a live action film the movie loses a lot of what made the anime special. I'm not just referencing Hollywood because there are plenty of Japanese live-action adaptations that suck too. It's the power inherent in the medium along with the ability to more easily suspend my belief.

I've already lost my horse in this race because Hollywood adapted and defiled Ghost in the Shell. Watanabe better splurge on a katana engraved with the words "no cuts" to make sure Netflix gets the message this time, although I'm under no delusions that someone at Netflix won't find some way to defile the story and get fans pants in a twist. 

[Bear 1817]

12 minutes ago, Zeus said:

Watanabe better splurge on a katana engraved with the words "no cuts" to make sure Netflix gets the message this time, although I'm under no delusions that someone at Netflix won't find some way to defile the story and get fans pants in a twist. 

 

But that's the great thing about Netflix, they're like a modern day Roger Corman and they work way, way different from most other studios. They're giving the creators and INSANE amount of creative freedom. If they like your idea, they'll give you a certain amount of money and just keep their hands off and let you do whatever the fuck you want. If you want your TV-series to be only 6 episodes, they'll let you keep it at 6 episodes without pushing for more no matter how popular the series is and how high the demand is for more. If you want your movie/TV series to be bizarre and weird as fuck, they'll let you do that even though they know it most likely won't get them the money back. If you want to make something so slow 98% of the world's population would die of boredom within the first 45 minutes of the movie, you're free to do so. There is no restrictions whatsoever.

 

When you produce for a major company of a certain size your main goal will always be to not please the fans, but please the regular movie goes. Because it is them who will earn them the money back, not the actual fanbase. So when a big company produce a movie like Ghost in the Shell (or movies based on books like The Hobbit), the movies simply won't be aimed towards the fans of the original anime.

 

With Netflix you will, if you want, be able to work towards pleasing the actual fans of the source material because they have the freedom to do so. They don't have to double or triple the income like the studios does. 

 

So making movies and TV-series for Netflix is like still being an indie filmmaker, just with a much, much bigger budget.

 

And this is the reason why I don't mind Netflix doing it.

 

 

tldr; Netflix will give you a massive amount of freedom to do as you please, something other, major studios will not do. It's such a huge difference between something like Netflix and HBO and regular studios.

 

 

 

 

So if they can get a writer/director who is actually a fan of the series, I have no doubt they'll be able to bring the anime justice by making something great. So in my eyes, that's where it lies. Can they do so? I don't know, but I hope they will.

[platy 3018]

I don't have any hopes for this. It's been proven too many times that anime adaptations are mediocre at best and traumatic at worst. 

[PIZAZ 238]

I hope it turns out well, however if it's garbage I hope it's as outright terrible as the live action Death Note. That movie was hilarious, best unintentional comedy of 2017 imo.

If they have any aspirations of it being as cool/iconic as the anime they better pay close attention to the ost, hire Yoko Kanno to do the soundtrack!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I dunno how to feel about this yet, but I'll reserve my judgement. On the one hand, it's Netflix and a big name so hopefully they won't screw it up.............. on the other hand, Death Note was also Netflix sooo... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[colorful人生 2777]

"Cautiously pessimistic" just about sums my feelings. We never know though, it could be good.

 

inb4 they release a trailer and the actors aren't to *insert group here* 's liking and they complain about *insert here*-washing. The internet gets fixated on it until it airs, and then everyone forgets that they were arguing in the first place. Most of those who've complained never end up watching it.  Then, contrary to popular belief, it doesn't ruin the original anime series, like initially predicted.

Edited November 28, 2018 by colorfuljinsei

[CAT5 9075]

^ "cautiously pessimistic" is a good way to put it. I don't doubt Netflix's ability to produce quality content - Altered Carbon (which was essentially a Ghost in the Shell wannabe) was fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable. However, I'm not convinced that Netflix can do justice to Cowboy Bebop. In fact, part of me wishes that the general consensus would concede to the idea that some things are just better animated, and not everything needs a live-action counterpart - but that's a debate for another time. I just think that Cowboy Bebop is far too peculiar (even by anime standards) to adequately recreate.
 

5 hours ago, PIZAZ said:

If they have any aspirations of it being as cool/iconic as the anime they better pay close attention to the ost, hire Yoko Kanno to do the soundtrack!

I agree 100% The score she did for Bebop was no less than stellar, and her contribution to the overall aesthetic and drive of the series simply cannot be overstated!

 

So yeah, my hopes for this are not high, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

 

 

[emmny 4139]

oddly interested for this, I feel like bebop has a flavour that will translate more to live action than GITS or death note.

 

[Tokage 5930]

Even most of the live-action adaptations done by the Japanese themselves in recent years have looked like cheap and gaudy shit, so I can't say I have high hopes when Netflix / Hollywood of all fucking things are getting involved with it. I guess the creativity has run so dry that they have to start doubling down on anime adaptations now? Video game fans, beware - you're next.

 

(absolutely can't wait for the inevitable demographics to start up a shitstorm about the original somehow being 'problematic' or whatever in the run up to the new adaptation either) 

 

[Bear 1817]

8 hours ago, Jigsaw9 said:

I dunno how to feel about this yet, but I'll reserve my judgement. On the one hand, it's Netflix and a big name so hopefully they won't screw it up.............. on the other hand, Death Note was also Netflix sooo... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

Jup, but they only bought the rights to the movie after Warner Bros. decided they wouldn't take the risk because of how poor Batman v. Superman did. The people involved, like director Adam Wingard, writer Jeremy Slater, producers and and a part of the cast were already on place before Netflix bought the rights to the movie.

 

While a complete shitfest, they did the right thing by not trying to change the creators vision for the film.

 

 

But no matter how we see it, Netflix is the better choice as far as adaptions goes IMO. At least at Netflix the people who make it might make it the way they want. At other studios, they won't because they have to make sure they first and foremost please all the people who have never even heard of the original product, before they start thinking about the fans of the originals. Which puts such limits to the projects.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Bear

[LIDL 692]

KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! 🤯🤯🤯🤮🤮🤮

 

They ruined Death Note. Not gonna hold my breath on this project.

 

Still look forward for the NGE anime finally be on their playlist tho!! 

[YuyoDrift 1540]

Ugh shit. More importantly then trying to make an accurate live-adaptation of the iconic anime series, the actors will need to go above and beyond in terms of acting in order to bring any genuineness to this. Never saw the death note one, but I hear the actors made it cringeworthy with their lack of relating any of the personalities in the anime to the live-adaptation.

 

Honestly, for me the only thing that needs to be considered is how to evoke the same nostalgia that the anime does. Story could vary a bit, and a gimmick here and there during the film is fine, but if you cant sway the anime weebs/otakus from the early 2000's that made CB what it is welllllll then Netflix is in for some shit.

[Flame-X 441]

My goodness people. I'm just gonna quote someone's tweet that I'm in total agreement with.

 

"All the screaming about EVA and live action Bebop on Netflix illustrates something that has annoyed me forever....there's no need to whine endlessly about something you DON'T HAVE TO WATCH. If the thing is so bad, STFU and just move on to something else."

[Tokage 5930]

2 hours ago, Flame-X said:

My goodness people. I'm just gonna quote someone's tweet that I'm in total agreement with.

 

"All the screaming about EVA and live action Bebop on Netflix illustrates something that has annoyed me forever....there's no need to whine endlessly about something you DON'T HAVE TO WATCH. If the thing is so bad, STFU and just move on to something else."

this argument is literally the equivalent to some 14 year old ritalin'd up music stan going ''IF U DON'T LIKE IT DON'T LISTEN TO IT DEHHH'' in the youtube comments of their favorite band, stuff shouldn't suddenly magically be exempt from criticism or whatever. There's a pretty consistent and clear pattern of Westerners trying to adapt or remake asian properties in live-action formats while entirely missing the point of the original, adding a ton of unnecessary changes and clearly just not doing it as a labor of love but because a boardroom full of suits has decided it must be so - that shit already dates back to that one live-action DBZ adaptation that was made years ago, that new Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, that Oldboy adaptation that came out somewhere in the last couple years, etc. 

 

People totally are and totally should be allowed to be unhappy when something they like is taken and essentially fucked up by people who have no understanding of it. Of course the originals will always continue to exist, and nobody is barring anyone from watching those, but considering how close-minded many average Westerners still are when it comes to watching anything in a foreign language with subtitles or whatever, it's going to be a given that people are gonna latch on to the westernized remake, and it's gonna be pushed down people's throats until the hype dies down

[Bear 1817]

8 hours ago, Tokage said:

People totally are and totally should be allowed to be unhappy when something they like is taken and essentially fucked up by people who have no understanding of it.

 

Do you know something the rest of the world don't? Like, if the writer and director and the rest of the people involved are fans or not, if they understand it or not?

 

So far the only info I've seen is that the first episode will be written by Christ Yost who's a massive comic book and cartoon fan, and who is an incredibly talented writer, as well as the fact that Shinichiro Watanabe will be heavily involved. So if this turns shit, we know for sure we can actually blame the director of the anime. Which is very, very nice.

[LEY 7]

Can they NOT. Seriously leave the perfection that is Cow boy Bebop ALONE.

[Tokage 5930]

16 hours ago, Bear said:

 

Do you know something the rest of the world don't? Like, if the writer and director and the rest of the people involved are fans or not, if they understand it or not?

 

So far the only info I've seen is that the first episode will be written by Christ Yost who's a massive comic book and cartoon fan, and who is an incredibly talented writer, as well as the fact that Shinichiro Watanabe will be heavily involved. So if this turns shit, we know for sure we can actually blame the director of the anime. Which is very, very nice.

I wasn't specifically talking about this upcoming Bebop adaptation with that bit - please don't try to tell me for instance that the people behind something like Dragonball: Evolution had any semblance of an idea of what they were dealing with or what made the original likeable.

Of course with this particular adaptation nobody can really say anything since pretty much nothing has been shown yet, but considering how '''''good'''' today's media climate is...

 

Anyway, regardless of anything, I'm just gonna hope this thing somehow goes the way of the FFVII remake and ends up stuck in remake purgatory for a while

[Bear 1817]

1 hour ago, Tokage said:

I wasn't specifically talking about this upcoming Bebop adaptation with that bit - please don't try to tell me for instance that the people behind something like Dragonball: Evolution had any semblance of an idea of what they were dealing with or what made the original likeable.

 

I have not tried to tell you anything about Dragonball at all, and you know this as well as me. So I am not sure what that's about.

 

Writer Ben Ramsey gas admitted himself that he couldn't give a shit about Dragonball and he took the job because it was a decent payday, and the last draft of the script were based on notes from the studio. The studio decided to get heavily involved in the production of the film. For all we know the first 2-3 drafts of the script might have been amazing and really well-written Dragonball-material that really nailed Dragonball to the core. Who knows. But as soon as studios start to deny directors and writers creative freedom, chances of getting something awful just gets bigger.

 

Producer Stephen Chow is a massive Dragonball fan and was keen to direct the movie, but he only directs movies he's written himself and they would't let him write it. Again, a massive mistake by the studio. Instead of just letting a talented fan of the source material write, they gave the job to someone who didn't care about the source material.

 

 

All I've really argumented for is that Netflix producing this is hella lot better than any major studios producing it. Because with Netflix wee know they won't get involved in the creation of the series, and chances of getting a decent budget is a lot higher than what you'd get from any of the bigger studios.

[CAT5 9075]

 

Quote

Netflix has announced the initial cast for its live-action “Cowboy Bebop” series: John Cho will play the lead role of Spike Spiegel, while Danielle Pineda (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) will play Faye Valentine, Mustafa Shakir (“Luke Cage”) will portray Jet Black, and Alex Hassell will play the villain Vicious. The 10-episode series will see Alex Garcia Lopez directing the first two episodes. Original director Shinichiro Watanabe is a consultant on the new show, which has yet to receive a release date.

-pitchfork

 

[Furik 832]

Honestly, it could definitely be a worse cast.  Mustafa will definitely kill it as Jet. Not too sold on Cho as Spike though. 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I ain't mad about the cast so far. I could really see Jet's and Vicious' actor pulling it off well. We'll see.