The upcoming Netflix live-action Cowboy Bebop series is off to a rough start in terms of production. After halting filming in October due to a severe knee injury to series lead John Cho, the team was gearing up to resume when the global health pandemic stalled things again.
However, executive producer Jeff Pinkner is still planning big things for the series. This week, Pinkner – who also serves as a writer on Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop – spoke to The Observer about his plans for show.
“I think that I’m very excited by our opportunity to take this iconic anime and bring it to life. I think that our actors are spectacular. The world that we’re creating down in New Zealand that we’re excited to get back to as soon as we can is a really fun, dynamic visualization of this insane anime. I think that because we have these hour-long episodes, we have an opportunity to take the anime and sort of like just deepen and dimensionalize the source material. Really tell stories set in that world in a way that hopefully will not only delight the fans of anime but expose a whole bunch of new people to the world of Cowboy Bebop, the awesome work of Yoko Kanno. It’s a delight. It’s entirely different from Lost in every way, but it’s been a joy.”
At the time of reporting, there is still no word on when Netflix will resume production on Cowboy Bebop, along with its various other shows including the fourth season of Stranger Things.
Cowboy Bebop is described as a “jazz-inspired, genre-bending story of a ragtag crew of bounty hunters on the run from their pasts as they hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals. They’ll even save the world … for the right price.” The live-action adaption of the anime series will star John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda, Elena Satine, and Alex Hassell in the significant roles.