Netflix confirms autumn launch date for COWBOY BEBOP

Netflix has confirmed they will be launching their live-action version of Cowboy Bebop this autumn, and also reconfirmed (after announcing it last year) that iconic Japanese musician Yoko Kanno will be working on the show. Kanno's work was an integral part of the original anime and it's good to hear she'll be on board for this new iteration.

The series, based on the hugely popular and iconic 1998 Japanese anime of the same name, had a protracted production schedule for its first season. The show had only just started shooting when star John Cho broke his foot, necessitating the suspension of filming for several months. Just as things were gearing up for the restart, the COVID pandemic struck. Fortunately, the show was filming in New Zealand, one of the countries to most successfully handle the pandemic, and was able to resume production in good order. Filming was completed in March.

The show stars John Cho as Spike, Daniele Pineda as Faye Valentine and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black. The first season appears to consist of eight or nine episodes, which might explain why the character Ed has not been cast yet; that character only debuts in the ninth episode of the original series.

Yoko Kanno to score the Netflix COWBOY BEBOP series

In news that will have fans everywhere breathing a sigh of relief, it's been confirmed (twice) that Yoko Kanno, the iconic composer behind Cowboy Bebop (among others), will be working on the live-action Netflix version of the show.

Netflix have previously remained quiet about their plans for the show's music, raising fears they would ignore the original series' jazz-infused musical sensibility. However, producer Jeff Pinkner has confirmed the news, as has (via io9) showrunner Javier Grillo-Marxuach.

Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer known for her work on numerous anime films, TV series and video games. As well as the original Cowboy Bebop, she has also worked on Macross Pluss, Gundam and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Cowboy Bebop is her signature and most famous work, for the variety of the compositions and the unusual fusing of jazz, pop and rock influences.

The Netflix show was several weeks into shooting when it was suspended in October 2019 due to star John Cho sustaining an injury on-set. Cho's injury has mostly healed, but Netflix want to give the star more time to recover before remounting the project (the current pandemic has meant that shooting could not resume anyway, of course). Shooting is expected to resume in the coming weeks for a 2021 debut.