Distinguished actor Keanu Reeves will play the role of Spike Spiegel in Twentieth Century Fox’s upcoming cinematic adaptation of the classic series “Cowboy Bebop”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Reeves’ involvement in the project became known during last summer, but this report stands as the first confirmation through official channels of his taking on the lead role of memorable space cowboy Spike.
Reeves has expressed considerable interest in the anime series, and is reported to be quite the fan of the show.
Questioned about the project last December, Reeves had the following to say:
“Oh yeah, cool. We’re trying to do that.”
The question of whether or not he is the right man for the role of one of recent anime’s most popular male characters is likely to be heard with some frequency from here on out, as the project now seems to be picking up steam in its development…
Much as with a certain earlier title, the prospects seem mixed…
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perfect looks just like him
Might… actually… work? He should be able to pull off the half-asian, almost terminally chilled out kung-fu fighting bounty hunter schtick quite well.
But who do we get for the other three (five?) main roles, though?
And more importantly will it still have the same music and occasionally go a little cartoonish?
Eh… Who knows if he could pull it off, but after the atrocity of the Dragonball movie I don’t have any hopes for it. Plus every episode goes into such a different issue, they’re probably going to just be really heavily telling Spike’s story which takes away the charm…
I think the real reason that live-action versions fail is that anime fans know the characters TOO well. Anything short of our expectations is disappointing: If Rei Ayanami didn’t have red eyes and blue hair or Faye Valentine didn’t have impossibly long legs, it would feel wrong.
It might be easier for people who have never seen the original anime to accept the films – they have no built in biases.
Spike SPIEGEL? he’s a JEW? wtf