'Cowboy Bebop' Live-Action Synopsis Reportedly Revealed

Netflix's live-action Cowboy Bebop appears to be moving forward, and a recent report has revealed a synopsis for it in addition to other details.

According to Production Weekly, here's the synopsis for the live-action show:

"In a distant future where resources are sparse and space travel leads to new lawless frontiers, a pair of bounty hunters are in need of a big break. Begrudgingly teaming up with their competition, a small crew aboard the BEBOP find themselves chasing down a high profile target while avoiding mega-powerful businessmen and a violent crime syndicate."

There's nothing here that's particularly telling as far as whether the live-action series will remain true to the roots of the original anime series. The basic "bounty hunters try to make money while avoid corporations and organized crime" is straight out of Cowboy Bebop, but the devil's in the details.

Production Weekly also claims that the series is currently looking to start production on July 20th and is scouting locations in New Zealand, Australia, Spain, and South Africa.

Details remain spare about the live-action Cowboy Bebop series, though a December report claimed that the pilot script remixed several elements from the anime in a way that felt tonally accurate while also being a little heavier on the cursing. It's unclear who will be cast in the series at this moment, as there's been no announcement from Netflix.

The live-action series was announced as part of a slew of high-profile anime acquisitions by the streaming service in late 2018. The series is a co-production between Netflix and Tomorrow Studios with the director of the original series, Shinichiro Watanabe, serving as a consultant.

Cowboy Bebop was first produced by Sunrise in 1998. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, with scripts written by Keiko Nobumoto, characters designed by Toshihiro Kawamoto, and songs composed by Yoko Kanno, the series explores many existentialist philosophies as it follows the adventures of Spike Spiegel and a group of bounty hunter misfits aboard the titular spaceship The Bebop in the year 2071.