• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Keanu Reeves will be Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop movie

Dream

Dream

Admiral
Admiral
Twentieth Century Fox is bringing the Japanese anime TV series "Cowboy Bebop" to the big screen, with Keanu Reeves attached to star as a bounty hunter traveling through space in 2071.

One of the big titles in anime, "Bebop" is set in a time where "astral gates" make interstellar travel possible. Humanity, decimated by a lunar explosion resulting from a gate accident, spread out across the solar system, as did crime, which gave rise to the use of bounty hunters.

Reeves would play Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter and former member of a crime syndicate. Spiegel, along with Jet Black, a fellow bounty hunter and former cop, are the two pilots of the spaceship Bebop.
Click to expand...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i4b7a99706a1f6a07e7120ead30352504

I loved the anime. I was hoping this rumor wasn't going to turn out true! At least Reeves already has some experience with weapons and martial arts after working in the Matrix series. I guess I'll give him a chance.
 
Keanu's been wanting this role for a long time, he's been very outspoken about it. The real trouble lies in who get's cast for the other roles.
 
Well, now I have to practice pretending not to like Cowboy Bebop to avoid becoming associated with the inevitably shit movie.
 
i don't mind Reeves getting cast. Though he is a bit too old. Just so long as the get the same peep that did the anime music.
 
I'll be watching the series again, and Knocking on Heaven's Door, while the movie's flopping at the box office. And if Yoko Kanno does do the soundtrack, I'll buy the CD...
 
Can anyone comment on the similarity between Cowboy Bebop and Firefly? Some poster somewhere seemed to think Firefly was a ripoff of it. I've seen all of Firefly and bits of Bebop and I don't really see much of a resemblance other than some similarity of the basic concept.

Anyway, I'm wondering if a live action Bebop will look like a ripoff of Firefly (not that Reeves can measure up to Nathan Fillion). :)
 
I don't think anyone but Reeves himself honesty wants him to be Spike. He might do a passable job, but he really doesn't suit the character as-written. . . at all.
 
Well, when you mention a live action movie, I'm sure Keanu all crossed our minds, even if you didn't actually want him to take the role. If nothing else, his involvement will probably help it toward completion. I think it would be cool if he could get Spike's body language down which I think is a big part of the character and I think Keanu could pull it off with his lean body.

We'll see, I think there are so many aspects of the anime that will be hard to capture that this is only the start of what could go wrong but if they could get close at all this could be a really cool movie.

TheBolianChef said:
Adrian Brody as Spike
Click to expand...
That's an interesting choice, I could picture that though I'm not sure if he's ever done a similar role.
 
The biggest issue I have with Reeves is he doesn't have a narrator's voice. Whoever plays Spike needs to have that hard boiled detective movie self-narration sound. And he just generally always looks and acts like he has a stick up his ass. INTENSEly far up his ass.
 
Ugh, this isn't good news. I don't feel as though Reeves can even come close to capturing Spike's non nonchalant intensity that defines the character.

Evil_Kirkneivel said:
Can anyone comment on the similarity between Cowboy Bebop and Firefly? Some poster somewhere seemed to think Firefly was a ripoff of it. I've seen all of Firefly and bits of Bebop and I don't really see much of a resemblance other than some similarity of the basic concept.

Anyway, I'm wondering if a live action Bebop will look like a ripoff of Firefly (not that Reeves can measure up to Nathan Fillion). :)
Click to expand...

There is no real resemblance other than basic concept. They're both space shows that don't go the shiny, Star Trek future route and the main group of characters in each are not regularly employed. There is little more to the similarity.

The other commonly hailed anime that Firefly ripped off was Outlaw Star, which is a slightly better comparison (but still little more than a passing resemblance). Again, both set in futures that are not Star Trek shiny, both have a girl in a box (although everything about the characters are completely and utterly different), both main groups of characters are not regularly employed and work with the concept of 'any job to keep going,' both crews end up getting chased/hunted by people who want the girl in the box, and both ships use a twirly light show on the back for their equivalent of FTL travel. That's about as far as the comparison goes.

In fact, Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star have more in common with each other than they do with Firefly. But, that's a different topic.
 
Venardhi said:
The biggest issue I have with Reeves is he doesn't have a narrator's voice. Whoever plays Spike needs to have that hard boiled detective movie self-narration sound. And he just generally always looks and acts like he has a stick up his ass. INTENSEly far up his ass.
Click to expand...

Yup. Plus, he simply a poor actor--and he has no comedic timing at all. (Maybe Blum can give him acting lessons. :lol: )

One thing I'm really afraid of is this will be a hi-concept serious sci-fi action flick which just isn't Beebop at all.

I think it's going to be a disaster.
 
Well, if they're doing Bebop the only actual "stories" to adapt would be the Red Eye/Red Dragon Syndicate angle from the series or the Biological Terrorism plot from the film. The rest just don't have the epicness needed for a film and would just seem like episodes.

...and which would you rather have some random dude off the street who knows nothing of CB or somebody like Keanu Reeves who's actually seen it, is a fan, and is enthusiastic about playing the character? I'd pick option 2 since I like the series and want a decent adaptation.
 
My No-Keanu Rule doesn't appeal waivable here... :D
flamingjester4fj.gif
 
zakkrusz said:
Well, if they're doing Bebop the only actual "stories" to adapt would be the Red Eye/Red Dragon Syndicate angle from the series or the Biological Terrorism plot from the film. The rest just don't have the epicness needed for a film and would just seem like episodes.

...and which would you rather have some random dude off the street who knows nothing of CB or somebody like Keanu Reeves who's actually seen it, is a fan, and is enthusiastic about playing the character? I'd pick option 2 since I like the series and want a decent adaptation.
Click to expand...

Except, if a guy is wrong for the part, he's wrong for the part. It's the same reason Favrou directed Iron Man and didn't play Stark. He was a enthusiastic fan and what not (And in his case, he's also a very good actor.), but simply not the guy for the part.
 
Eh? I don't see why he's "wrong":

Martial artist: check
Not too bright: Check
Whimsical attitude: Check

Level Cleared
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top