The production company behind the live-action adaptations of One Piece and Cowboy Bebop is presently developing a live-action version of the 2004 anime series Samurai Champloo, reports Variety. Tomorrow Studios has also confirmed that original series creator Shinichirō Watanabe is part of the team putting the project together.
“We had dinner with [Watanabe] in Japan and said, if we move forward on doing ‘Samurai Champloo,’ we really want you to be a part of the creative,” producer and president of Tomorrow Studios Becky Clements told Variety. “We were thrilled that he was willing to do that.”
The project is reportedly in early development and, while a destination for Samurai Champloo is yet to be determined, Clements explained the studio has received “a lot of incoming calls” about it.
A mix of modern hip-hop and historical sword swinging, Samurai Champloo originally aired as a 26-episode anime series between mid-2004 and early 2005. It was directed by acclaimed anime auteur Shinichirō Watanabe, who had previously directed the similarly successful anime space Western Cowboy Bebop in the late ’90s.
Tomorrow Studios adapted Cowboy Bebop for Netflix in 2021, however the series was canceled after a single season. Its 2023 adaptation of One Piece has fared better, with the second season of the show dropping on Netflix this week. IGN’s review called the new season “nothing short of a miracle,” noting it “captures the incredibly absurd and cartoony world of Eiichiro Oda’s manga while not losing any of that sense of fun as it becomes a live-action series.”
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.
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