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is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.
Though the live-action Cowboy Bebop was a big disappointment, Shinichirō Watanabe is ready to give it another go with one of his other iconic pieces of IP.
Variety reports that Watanabe has given his blessing and agreed to work on a new live-action Samurai Champloo adaptation from Tomorrow Studios, the same production house behind Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop (which Watanabe wasn’t directly involved in) and the streamer’s surprisingly excellent take on One Piece. The project is in its earliest stages of development and is not attached to a distributor. After Cowboy Bebop, this all feels a little iffy, but Tomorrow Studios heads Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements seem confident that they can make it work with Watanabe’s help:
The production company previously adapted Watanabe’s other signature work, “Cowboy Bebop,” for Netflix in 2021, though that series was canceled after one season. Clements acknowledged Watanabe was less involved creatively on that project.
“We’ve learned,” said Adelstein. “Having the creator there to bless the creative is really important.”
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