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Netflix Cancels Live-Action Cowboy Bebop Show

Entertainment news source The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Thursday that Netflix has canceled the live-action adaptation of Sunrise's Cowboy Bebop anime after one season.

The series garnered almost 74 million viewing hours so far, but its ratings dropped by 59% about two weeks after its premiere. It also received a 46% average rating among critics, and 54% among audience members on the Rotten Tomatoes website.

Writer and executive producer Jeff Pinkner had teased in April 2020 that the show's staff was planning a second season.

Netflix only recently debuted the 10-episode series on November 19. The company describes the series:

COWBOY BEBOP is an action-packed space Western about three bounty hunters, aka “cowboys,” all trying to outrun the past. As different as they are deadly, Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) form a scrappy, snarky crew ready to hunt down the solar system's most dangerous criminals — for the right price. But they can only kick and quip their way out of so many scuffles before their pasts finally catch up with them.

The series starred John Cho as Spike, Mustafa Shakir as Jet, Daniella Pineda as Faye, Alex Hassell as Vicious, and Elena Satine as Julia. The Japanese dub included returning voice actors from the original anime's cast.

Netflix and Tomorrow Studios co-produced the series, with Netflix handling physical production. Tomorrow Studios is a partnership between producer Marty Adelstein (Prison Break, Teen Wolf, producer for the live-action One Piece project) and ITV Studios. Shinichiro Watanabe, the original anime's director, served as consultant for the project. Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio are credited as showrunners and executive producers. Yoko Kanno returned to score the music for the series.

The original anime series follows the motley crew of the spaceship Bebop as it travels throughout the solar system in search of the next job. The anime inspired Cowboy Bebop: The Movie in 2001. Funimation released the series on Blu-ray and DVD in North America in 2014, and screened the film in the United States in 2018, the 20th anniversary of the original series. Netflix began streaming the original anime worldwide outside Japan starting on October 21.

Thanks to Blanchimont for the news tip.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter (James Hibberd, Borys Kit)