'Cowboy Bebop' Live-Action Series Reportedly Starts Production this Summer

Cowboy Bebop fans got the surprise announcement of the year last year when it was revealed that the in the works live-action series would be coming to Netflix, and while there has yet to be an announcement of when fans could expect the series, it will reportedly begin its production this Summer.

As reported by Production Weekly, Cowboy Bebop's live-action series is currently eyeing a start of production on July 20 and is currently scouting out locations in New Zealand, Australia, Spain, and South Africa.

Unfortunately while there are not too many other clues behind the production of the series, the report provides an idea of what fans can expect from the live-action series as it includes a synopsis that reads as such, "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 B EBOP find themselves chasing down a high profiled target while avoiding mega-powerful businessmen and a violent crime syndicate."

What we do know for sure, however, is the series will be a co-production between Netflix and Tomorrow Studios (which had been working on the live-action series since sometime last year) with director of the original series, Shinichiro Watanabe serving as a consultant on the new project. Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio will serve as executive producers, and Yasuo Miyakawa, Masayuki Ozaki, and Shin Sasaki from the original anime's studio Sunrise will also executive produce as well.

Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, Tetsu Fujimura, and Matthew Weinberg have signed on to produce the series also, with Netflix handling physical production. While there are few concrete details about the project, it has been confirmed that the first episode of the series will be written by Thor: Ragnarok scribe, Christopher Yost. Reported reactions to the series' pilot script have been positive.

Cowboy Bebop was first produced by Sunrise in 1998. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, with scripts written by Keiko Nobumoto, character designer 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.

The series premiered in Japan back in 1998, and ran for 26 episodes until 1999. It was licensed for an English language released by Bandai Entertainment and Funimation, and was the very first anime series to air on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block in the United States. It's often credited by fans from the 2000s as a major "gateway" show to the world of anime overall and has gone on to major critical, cult, and commercial success.

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