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Keanu's COWBOY BEEBOP Movie Too Expensive To Make!?!?
Merrick here...
This was mentioned over in Scott Green's Anime column (HERE), but I thought the news warranted a separate article...plus there's now video to support the details.
MTV sat down with Keanu Reeves to discuss his upcoming THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE.
During their chat, the status of Reeve's COWBOY BEEBOP adaptation came up.
Here's what he had to say:
There's a draft of the script, but the writer did such a great job...in order to make the movie you would need half a billion dollars.
[EDIT]
The studio kinda just went: 'This script is fantastic - and it would cost half a billion dollars!
...Reeves told MTV.
You can hear it for yourself via the embed below:
Reeves also indicates the script is currently being reworked into something more producible.
If the movie ever happens, Reeves would play BEEBOP protagonist Spike Spiegel (wearing the blue jumpsuit in the clip below):
[EDIT]
The studio kinda just went: 'This script is fantastic - and it would cost half a billion dollars!
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+ Expand All
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They should get somebody else(not Ben Affleck either)!
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That's what I call him.
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I've been hearing about this movie for way too long. Just make it already. Besides, a half-million dollar budget would compensate for Keanu Reeve's acting.
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Sep 23, 2009 10:35:15 AM CDT
Keanu is just too bland for this role, he won't be cool enough
by thewaqman
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...Scott Green is going to write a three thousand word essay about you...carefully weighing the good against the bad...but ultimately concluding that you are a thieving bastard and deserve to die...
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You lizard bitches had better make this fucking movie.
That is all. -
Who would make a great Faye?
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Is that jazz for Bees?
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Sep 23, 2009 10:44:52 AM CDT
so what if it costs that much....spend that shit
by water_shit_anderson
entertain us!
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. . . turn it into a novel?
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I've said this before...the only way to do them justice is to animate them like Davey Jones' tentacle beard. No silicone, no TOMB RAIDER falsies.Of course this shouldn't be happening in the first place...so never mind.
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...and they'd better not fuck this up. Which they prolly will, no matter how much they spend. So, in the end, I hope this dies in development hell.
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.. movies the way he does in interviews I'd like him a lot more. Interviews show me that he is actually capable of emoting.. those, and Bill and Ted movies... and whoever plays Faye had better have some rockin' boobs.
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...would be reason enough to make the movie...search every corner of the globe...it could take years.Maybe even a lifetime...
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Sep 23, 2009 11:05:20 AM CDT
The fuck? They managed to pull off Chronicles of Riddickulous
by the green gargantua
They cunt do this? Oh well, Captain Harlock is way cooler.
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If you've seen "Our Mrs. Reynolds" and "Trash" you know she'd be perfect.
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but the way Hollywood is structured it will. Hollywood needs some Six Sigma, and JIT training...these production costs are just fucking silly and it is all because the industry is inefficient, CROOKED, and greedy. 8 figure salaries for leads, 7 figure directors, Union Meddling that requires 3 times as many people on set as is required..I bet there is an assistant for the monkey that places the cables. It really is out of control; and the worst thing about the out of control costs is that the studios are terrified of making anything that isn't a known quantity, anything that does not have a track record of success. I wonder how many good stories are not getting made so we can have Transformers 3, movie adaptions of TV shows, and remakes of movies that were hits 30 or 40 years ago.That said..too expensive or no...I really have no desire to see Hollywood mangle yet another wonderful Anime story...and you know they would..just look at the fucking casting decision...that tells you everything.
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Harlock flick would rock! If done properly of course.
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Serenity was essentially what a Cowboy Bebop film should be and how it should look. That certainly wasn't made for a shit load of money. So really not sure why they think a CB film would need to be.
Oh and as others have said, keanu way too old for the role. Need someone new and fresh and unknown for it, they essentially need to be as cocky as bruce lee with a brooding noir detective interior. Or just get Joseph Gordon Levitt for it. -
She's got the boobs for it.
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This should have been made a decade ago. I had completely forgotten about this show.
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the sexiest cartoon character of all time. Don't believe me...go to Comic-Con, or the Anime Expo...you'll see a dozen very attractive girls all dressed as Faye...and they all FAIL.It would almost have to be a Victorias Secret model too LOOK like the character...and none of them can act I'm sure.Nope..not possible...put your faith in science. I'm sure, right now as I type this...there is a Japanese scientist working 24/7 to genetically engineer a real life Faye Valentine..., while his Mechanical engineering schooled brother is making a robotic version....can't wait to buy one.
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Not that his salary makes that huge of a difference if it really would cost 500 million, but still, the idea that Keanu believes he is worth that much, and won't even do a movie unless they pay up, baffles me. I don't even mind watching him in most movies, he finds roles that suit his barren emoting, but come on, to pay him like a top quality A-lister is just fucking absurd.
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The Anime is really rather perfect (except for the horrible cultural bias in Watermellon Man)--and cannot be improved upon by taking 24 episodes and a feature film and squishing it into a two hour bad film starring Keanu "I want laundered shirts" Reaves. Especially after the ABORTION that was Day the Earth Stood Stupid.
Yeah, I made a Johnny Mnemonic reference. Deal with it. -
Get rid of Keanu Reeves and use unknowns. Seriously, though. Sci-Fi movies have been made for less than a half-billion dollars. Heck, even AVATAR didn't cost 500 million.
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I've turned around on this. As long as the film is an entertaining future-noir spectacle and features Keanu kicking lots of butts I don't give a shit. Just make the fucking thing before he's geriatric!
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give the man $500, a camera, and a case of beer, put him in the middle of nowhere, and he could direct the next star wars.
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... OK! ;)
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They better call Joss Whedon!!! I saw "Cowboy Beebop" and there is no way that a live acton version of that movie would cost a half a billion dollars--even a hundred million would be pushing it!!! They could easily do the film for 60 million dollars--including Keanu's paycheck.
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so that's the worst suggestion yet.
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This is Cowboy Bebop not the fukkin Matrix; return of jesussupermanchristneo.leme guess, does reeve get a fraction of hal billion as his cut?if ya ask me, that lead actor from district 13 would make for a better spike..he looks just like him, plus his pakour/martial arts skills could come in handy.
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That "Bebop" only has ONE E.
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Everyone is bagging on him unfairly I think. He's not THAT old, jesus you guys make him sound like he's 80. And the Spike character isn't very young either, I think Keanu's the right age for the part. And comeone, they should totally be able to do this movie for 100-150 million. No reason it has to be insanely expensive (Although serenity isn't a great example, it looks like a tv movie, but even 3 times the budget it would still be under 150 mil).
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And film on location in Akihabara- that place looks like it belongs in the Bebop universe anyway.
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Where Keanu played an azn, it was some samurai fliq or something. That sounded kinda interesting. If a Hawaiian Chinese English (?) guy born in either Lebanon or Beirut but raised in Canada guy like Keanu could play a southern lawyer, I figured he'd do ok being an azn guy.
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It was pointed out. In the form of a joke in post # 11 by cymbalta4thedevil.
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Make it animated. You save money AND have a character that would emote more than Keanu ever would.
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But Hollywood needs to be A WHOLE LOT MORE CREATIVE in casting. This is so predictable, boring, ho-hum.
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Sep 23, 2009 12:10:33 PM CDT
Serenity cost $40 million, and looks like it was made for three
by hammer2fall
Is Fox seriously that bad at budgeting their films? Is there some sort of reverse psychology that demands they spend the most money for the least visual return? Wolverine costs $150 million, yet his claws look like leftover effects from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
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Sep 23, 2009 12:10:41 PM CDT
In a post Sky Captain world why would any movie cost that much?
by boogel
Really...is Cowboy Beebop going to be any bigger in scale than Return of the Sith? Unless they are planning on this thing being 14 hours long...
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Blasted character limit.
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Keanu is actually perfect for Spike. There are few other actors who can pull off quiet-cool the way he does.
Also, emoting is not acting. See Al Pacino. -
bebop needs to take place in cities and colonies that do not exist....if its filmed in fuckin vancouver on the cheap why even bother?
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Oh wait.
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I'm sure it can't be nearly as expensive as Avatar...there is absolutely NO reason for this to cost over $100M as long as there is no crazy creatures. Hell just do all the space parts with models old school style, you'll save a bundle and it'll look better anyway! The script probably needs work, and this is most likely a cover to prevent bad buzz. And Keanu is 10 years too old, and too wooden for this part.
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My issue w/ Serenity was the overuse of LA as a location for "alien planets". Any one who has been to LA immediately can recognize the terrain - it pulled me right out of the movie. I'm sitting there thinking, "really? LA? As an alien planet??" Immediately made the movie look like a basic cable TV show ala SG1 or something.
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will never be satisfied with anything you do with this movie so just fuckin ignore them. It's a futile effort trying to please people that say things like "This should be animated because it was an animated show!" and "Keanu Reeves is too old to play the skinny white guy who knows kung fu!". Just fuck 'em.
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Adaptations suck. An adaptation at its very best can only be redundant of the source material. Why do you keep falling for this?
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AICN is so slow.
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Bababooey.
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Damn.
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Or he's cardboard, or he's computer generated, but not alive in an actor's sense.
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...but if they do this, get Chris Evans (Sunshine, F4) for Spike! He can pull off that kind of calm cool demeanor, with little flashes of humor and tragedy, that defines Spike's character. -
How the hell would it absolutely HAVE to cost half a mil? I seriously doubt it would have to. It just sounds kind of like a cop out to me.
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Half a BILLion wasn't it?? Half a million, old Jonny Utah could stroke a check for that shit.
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i am pretty sure he will have the patience to wait to make it after 15 years,when the technology and budget cost will be humanly accessible.
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i do find him perfect as Spike Spiegel.I wish him that he will finally be able to make this movie adaptation,even if it turns out crap us usually is these cases.
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They just know with Keannu it won't break even.
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...effing spot on mate.
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Paul Reubens WTF
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...It's too dumb to make.
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just find an actress from Mediterranean,like italian,spanish,greek etc,there are many of these gals with natural big boobs or generally a latin woman if u want something more homemade for your american movie.
the real problem with the movie is elsewhere. -
So, as per the way things are now in the UK, I'm forced to sit through a 26 second ad for Special K before being told I can't watch the thing I'm quite sure they know I wanted to see. They know this because I clicked on the link. And they know where I am at that moment in time.
So exactly what IS downloading as I gaze at the screen that shows alternative content that MTV assure me we Brits may legally see and hear? You know, the stuff I don't give a flying fucking fuck about. That stuff. -
I always figured spike for mid to late 20's, oldest maybe 32
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They must want to make those stargate tunnel things for realz.
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and call it Cowboy Bebop.
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Characters are always young in anime. Half of them are about toddlers hunting cyborgs.
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Sep 23, 2009 1:41:30 PM CDT
RE: And there is no woman on earth that could play Faye...
by mr. nice gaius
I disagree. All you need is someone with a healthy rack who is willing to cut her hair and show a lot of skin. Faye was never that complicated a character anyway.Now, if you were talking about Major Motoko Kusanagi from GHOST IN THE SHELL, then I'd have to say that there is no woman on Earth who could play her. The closest I think you could get would be to motion capture Diora Baird's body, have WETA do a full "photoreal" CGI rendering (based on the cartoon character's appearance), and use the American voice actress from SAC. It's either that or you give Tricia Helfer breast implants and color her hair dark purple. Her voice is pretty close to the Major's.All I'm saying is that Kusanagi, for a cartoon character, is hot. Which is weird.
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Sep 23, 2009 1:43:18 PM CDT
CGI breast augmentation doesn't seem below Hollywood standards.
by toilet_terror
I bet Michael Bay will be the first to try it.
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Sep 23, 2009 1:46:18 PM CDT
BTW Faye is probably the worst-designed anime character I've see
by toilet_terror
Ridiculous sixth-grader's vision of a HOTHOTHOTBABE. What's with the granny-sweater?
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Don't we have something called CG?
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what Faye wears. I'd have nightmares. And if you think Faye's the worst designed anime character, then you've had a poor sampling of anime.
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District 9 was made or what? Fifteen bucks?
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I mean, it they can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on dreck like Wild Wild West, why not Cowboy Bebop?
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My first instinct was District 9 as well. Some directors don't screw around or waste money. Conversely, Kevin Smith has great stories about sitting around on the Die Hard set while they pissed away money not doing anything all the time.
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Just find a young Monica Belucci
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All 3 LoTR films cost a total of $300 million, and they don't get much more FX intensive than that. D9 at $30 mill a great example of CG-laden movies not being burdened by the cost of A-list actors...
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made is alright with me.
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Then you might make a good Spike, Keanu.
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It's not like it's one of those animes with extremely long and difficult to pronounce Japanese titles. Fuck.
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Sure, it could work.
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Did people forget that they are the studio behind this movie? Of course the budget is too big for them because they dont want to put money in movies. This is just another attempt to ruin a highly appreciated anime. Lets not forget the tragedy that was Dragonball Pollution. Here's the thing, just move the project somewhere else. FOX wants a 25mil budget with as little characters as possible. Count me out of this. FOX is like the only studio who has all these fuck ups before and after a movie comes out. Script rewrite because of budget? Get the fuck outta here
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Tarantino directs (I always thought it felt like a QT series). Mr. Reeves as Spike (or else he'll hold his breath until he turns blue). Laurie Holden as Faye Valentine (she'll fit in the costume and always looks like she's about to kick your ass). Bruce Willis as Jet Black (because he needs the money). And now the hard one...who on Earth will play Ed? The only actress I could think of that would be the right age when this goes into production is Elle Fanning.
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Sep 23, 2009 3:57:03 PM CDT
This is based on the 1st ep so Ed Faye and Ein don't need to be
by geomancer21
It was said several times already this was a lengthened version of Asteroid Blues.
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That like making it without the jazz soundtrack. Ed's the best part.
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...designed to rip-off investors. No film should cost more than 80 million dollars--ever!!!
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the problem is with the producers and Keanu.what if they want to have Spike resemble Neo,and make the whole movie ala Matrix style? Reeves hasnt done a remarkable hit since the matrix days,the american audience is more familiar with Neo than Spike,Bebop is a scifi genre (at least partly)and dont forget we are talking about FOX here,who will change anything in order to make the most commercial product possible.
they are already changing the script with one cheap excuse,they dont even explain why exactly the movie needs 500m to be made,what were they going to film with such a big budget if it was possible?
and another thing is that,Reeves claims that he is a geek and loves the Bebop anime but then again he is the guy whose career was saved by the Wachowski bros whose background has japanime influences.
in other words,i wont be suprised if what happened is that Keanu discovered that pretty cool anime series with a large fandom,he does know from his matrix experience that the young american audience digs japanime and scifi,so he sees in this anime his new 'matrix' movie.I believe that the writer did make a good adaptation of the anime,but the producers wanted to make the movie feel more matrix like,something that Keanu agreed with at the end.
I think thats the case here,not about ridiculous reasons like 500m budgets,and we must prepare for more bad news regarding this project in the future.mark my words. -
look at terminator 2, so much money went into it and yet the low budget terminator 1 is vastly superior.
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Sep 23, 2009 4:24:05 PM CDT
keanu would have been great... in the 90s... if he could act
by takingscorpioscalls
currently though he is developing a 2nd chin.
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I am a super HUGE fan of Cowboy Bebop, but I am also a super HUGE proponent of bludgeoning Keanu Reeves dead in his sleep with one of those clawed meat hammers so we can be spared any more movies featuring his feeble attempts at acting.
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District 9 only cost 30 million to make and it looks like it cost 5 times that. Part of that may have had to do with Peter Jackson producing, but still. A little money goes a looooooooong way with people who know how to use it.
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Keanu is just the actor hired to grunt monosyllables.. who is the writer they talk about in the article?
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half a million is 500k dollars,500m dollars is half a billion
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Personally, I don't have a problem with Keanu Reeves' involvement in yet another obscure modern classic.
What could possibly go wrong?
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Just sayin...
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Make it in Russia or Korea, with local production, FX and CGI teams. They will make the exact same thing American crews could make for 1/10th the cost.
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Or as we like to call him at the dinner table, JOGOL. Yea, Jogol is about ready to do just about anything if the moneys right. He tells me, in my dreams.
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Forget Keanu, his paycheck is half the budget. Get Chris Evans for Spike, like I said earlier. Then cast Ron Perlman as Jet... he is genetically incapable of turning down a part, apparently, so I'm sure his fee could be negotiated easily. Then, for Faye, pull a Soderbergh and cast Faye Valentine the porn star... she'd fill out the granny sweater nicely, and with the recession hitting the valley, she would probably take a much lower rate than a "regular" actress. Get Leelee Sobieski for Julia... if Boll could get her, she can't be too expensive. And for Ed, just go to Youtube and splice together a bunch of Boxxy videos for free. The only role that would cost any money would be Vicious, because you'd need the gold standard in emotionless monotone growling... all hail Bale! (praise be his name). And Carrot Top for Cowboy Andy. Done. Film it in Hong Kong on the cheap, re-use all the effects shots from Serenity, then send me a check for the difference.
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If it's the number of CG shots, you can reduce the quality, and still get acceptably good effects. I don't remember Cowboy Bebop having any aliens in it, it's just spaceships in space, which doesn't require any state-of-the-art CG.
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I can't see how this movie could be that expensive. Thats ridiculious. Keanu as Spike is fine for me. How about Vin Diesel as Jet? ScarJo as Faye. That Breslin girl as Ed and Jennifer Biel as Julia in flashbacks.
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I have all the DVDs of this series, and I believe it would make a good film. The problem would be what is cut out as there several good stories to choose from. With CGI most everything is possible for effects, so I don't know why the estimate for such a high cost. I hope it's made. But Keanu would be a bit old for the part. I do hope the magic mushrooms story and the forgotten refrigerator story are included. This is a fun series.
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Katy Perry.
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I just found out that Christina Hendricks is engaged to the "Snozzberries taste like snozzberries!" kid from Super Troopers. I think this may turn out to be a class action suit.
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If only there were a way to make a movie based on a cartoon that didn't necessitate large, elaborate sets, mind-blowing (but still unconvincing) cg special effects, and established, marquee actors, they might be able to save some of those billions without compromising this allegedly amazing script.Hold on a sec, could this cartoon movie be... animated instead? Just a thought.
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spam jackson suffers from that affliction as well
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the man who single handedly destroyed 'The Devil's Advocate.'
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Sounds like all explosions and no character development, which is a big part of Bebop. Even for the bad guys or 1 story characters. Nobody wants a meaningless story, especially not w/ Bebop. Do it right. Fucking make it black & white or cut down on flying through the hyper gates, but don't make it a Ghost Rider or Daredevil. PLEASE!!!!!!!!
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That was made with $30 million and it wipes the floor with Cameron's SMURFS-meets-WoW nonsense.
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in his asking price to do this project.
Don't hate the player hate the game! -
Damn... i might have to David Carradine myself.
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Get Eric from True Blood for Vicious. No???
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http://tinyurl.com/ydd3mdv
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If you're going to cast a live action Beebop movie, Mr. McAvoy is clearly the person you should be casting as Spike. Duh. He's a nerd, he looks like Spike, and he can act. Also, I agree with robogeek.com, that chick from Mad Men would make a good Faye.
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You read it here first.
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I can dig it. He's a bit older-looking than Joseph Gordon Levitt, and also can act properly. I always saw Spike as being early-thirties. I mean, he has a lengthy backstory.
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Can you believe that he's nearly 60? The man just won't quit.
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I loved Cowboy Bebop the Movie. I am not sure if I like the idea of a live-action Bebop movie. If you are going to go there and do a live Bebop Movie, I guess Keanu Reeves would be a decent Spike. However James McAvoy would be an interesting choice for Spike. He is geeky and is a much better actor than Keanu. I have to agree that Diora Baird would make a good Faye. How about Paul Bettany (Priest)as Vicious and Scarlett Johannsen (sp) as Julia? They could cast an unknown child actor as Ed. Ron Pearlman or maybe Woody Harrelson could be cast as Jet.
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They're shooting it on Mars.
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Never heard of the guy myself but someone on another board recommended him for Spike, and I gotta agree. He's got the lanky cool sexy thing down
http://tinyurl.com/clzazd -
But if Hollywood HAS to use a known, I'd much rather it be Adrien Brody. To me he simply looks and acts far more like Spike. I have several images where he even DRESSES like Spike.
I love Keannu, but we all know he has no emotion at all. He can't really play deep. Constantine could have been great, but he just simply looks bored or pissed off all the time. What happened to Ted?
It's weird... same thing happened with Val Kilmer. Madmardigan... happy, funny and energetic... everything else ... miserable bastard
I just think Brody could inject some heart into this and pull off being calm and collected.
Also, after seeing Black Snake Moan, I'd love to see Ricci as Faye. -
Sep 25, 2009 8:02:50 AM CDT
Wow, glad I'm not the only person that thought Ed should be Elle
by dfinch01
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