For those that know me best, know that one of my most ambitious writing projects that I want to tackle is a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie. Cowboy Bebop remains my favorite anime because of its incredible blend of wonderful animation, spectacular music, great cast of characters, and the ability to remain three steps ahead of the audience. No two episodes are the same in tone, pacing, style, and content. While on the surface its bounty hunters in space, the anime dwells far deeper than that. So the question is how can I duplicate its random and unpredictable nature for the big screen? I think I have an idea.
Instead of Cowboy Bebop being one main plot, I would separate the movie into three smaller storylines that intertwine in the film. My movie starts off with a short scene that quickly reveals how our main characters do things in the bounty hunter business (It would be very similar to the intro to the animated movie of Cowboy Bebop). And then we’ll throw in the infamous theme song to run the opening credits. After that is where it gets interesting. I want three storylines to run after the credits—one involving Spike, one involving Jet, and one involving Faye. So it will resemble more the television show, focusing on smaller shorter stories as opposed to trying to create a long, long plot. The episodes would be 30-35 minutes each. Doing the math and adding the opening sequence time will make this movie around 105-115 minutes. Not bad, right?
Whom I want acting in the movie is a total mystery, as its going to be a massive challenge finding the right actors/actresses to portray the iconic roles. The one main one I have figured out is Spike, as I’ve narrowed it down to whether Michael Weatherly (from NCIS) or John Krasinski (The Office). As for Jet, only Kimbo Slice comes to mind (Google him, he can pull off that look), and I really doubt he would take this role...and I would doubt that he could pull off the role. But I do know who I would love to see directing this: Edgar Wright. His track record is phenomenal (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and his attention to detail and hyper-kinetic editing style would work perfectly with the Cowboy Bebop look. As for the music, if I can’t get the original composer Yoko Kanno, I would use Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles), who already has experience working with bebop jazz for film.
This is where the fun begins. Now, I want to try something different. I would be writing one movie, but two different versions of said movie. 25 different states in the U.S. will get one version of Cowboy Bebop, and the rest of the country will get a totally different Cowboy Bebop. The totally different version will feature the same intro, but different opening credits, and three totally different episodes. To break it down:
On Release Date:
25 States Furthest East
Cowboy Bebop a
Spike Story 1
Jet Story 1
Faye Story 1
25 States Furthest West
Cowboy Bebop b
Spike Story 2
Jet Story 2
Faye Story 2
And then after several weeks, reverse the switch by giving the eastern states the b version of Cowboy Bebop, and give the western states the a version. So in the end, in a span of three months audiences nationwide will have essentially two Cowboy Bebop movies, six smaller episodes in the big screen overall. This will stir up fun confusion as well as add variety to the moviegoing experience. You’ll have one side of the country discuss a totally different movie from the other side, although they have the same title.
What are the storylines you say? And when in the chronological order will these adventures take place in? Not sure about the storylines but one thing is sure, I want them to be like your usual Cowboy Bebop episode---part of the canon but can also be viewed standalone and without much knowledge of the background of the characters involved. It’s not going to be easy, but I would love to hear the theme song blasting through the speakers in the movie theater before seeing a live-action variation of arguably the best anime of all-time.
Can you see it too?
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