The live-action adaptation of “Cowboy Bebop” finally has a home: Netflix announced Tuesday that it is co-producing the series with a 10-episode order.
Created by director Shinichirō Watanabe and animator Toshihiro Kawamoto, “Cowboy Bebop” ran for 26 episodes from 1997-1998, and was followed by a feature film, “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie,” in 2001.
The show follows Spike Spiegel and his partner Jet Black, crew of the spaceship Bebop, who eke out a living as interplanetary bounty hunters. As they navigate their own troubled pasts, they also become involved in increasingly significant events both criminal and political. It takes place 50 years after an accident rendered Earth uninhabitable and forced humanity to colonize Mars, Venus and the Jovian moons.
“Cowboy Bebop” was celebrated for its ambiguous, neo-noir tone and a jazz soundtrack composed by Yoko Kanno. It gained a following in the U.S. after becoming the first anime series licensed by Adult Swim in 2001, and “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie” got limited theatrical play in the U.S. in 2003.
Netflix will co-produce with Tomorrow Studios; Netflix will also oversee the show’s physical production. Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio will serve as executive producers and showrunners, with Watanabe consulting.
Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, Yasuo Miyakawa, Masayuki Ozaki, and Shin Sasaki of Sunrise Inc, and Tetsu Fujimura and Matthew Weinberg will executive produce, and Christopher Yost (“Thor: Ragnarok”) will write the first episode.
The full cast and a launch date will be announced at a later time.