The internet was a buzz last week as Keanu Reeves stated that he wants to bring the anime classic Cowboy Bebop to the big screen.   Sites like Ain’t It Cool News and the MTV Movie blog have quotes from an interview with Mr. Reeves about the project.  Reading these quotes Reeves seemingly understands the source material.  If any anime property has a chance of becoming a great Hollywood movie than it is Cowboy Bebop.  A couple of struggling bounty hunters and a femme-fatale looking for work set in a frontier-like space setting is concept Western audiences could easily warm to.  But, in my opinion, there are two hurtles to Cowboy Bebop’s successful translation. 

The biggest hurtle is Hollywood’s track record with adapting anime properties.  Past films like The Guyver and Fists of the North Star are . . . less than stellar.  And that’s being kind.  Whether it’s poor production values or poor translation, the unqiueness of the original material is lost and the final product feels uninspired.  Like a bad sci-fi channel movie.  The real question is when Hollywood finally “gets it right” will Western audiences flock to see it.  The Speed Racer live-action film is very good adaption but it was a box office dud. 

The other hurtle is Keanu Reeves wanting to play as Cowboy Bebop’s lead character Spike Spiegel.  He possesses the sci-fi and action credits with roles in The Matrix, Johnny Mnemonic, and The Day the Earth Stood Still.  And while Spike Spiegel is a man of action, he is also charming.  A trait that Reeves is not known for.  A lot of the internet chatter agrees with this assessment.  If the would-be movie gets everything else right (and that’s a big IF), then Reeves playing Spiegel would be a big deal for me.  But if the movie misses its mark, the casting just another element critics will point to.