Tomorrow Studios, the creators of the One Piece live-action series, revealed that they are developing a Samurai Champloo live-action adaptation.
In a report by Variety, executive producers at the studio revealed that they are working on an adaptation of Shinichiro Watanabe’s iconic hip-hop-infused samurai anime. This comes shortly after the premiere of the One Piece live-action series’ second season on Netflix, which recently received positive reviews from critics and fans alike.
This project is still early in the development stage, and as such, there are no details yet on when/where it will be released, though Tomorrow Studios’ producers stated that they’ve been getting plenty of calls about it. They also confirmed that music will be a key component in the adaptation, as was the case in the original anime.
Most importantly, the studio confirmed that Watanabe will be involved with the adaptation, with Tomorrow Studios’ producers revealing that they had dinner with Watanabe, where they got confirmation that the original series creator is willing to be part of this adaptation’s creative team.
While Tomorrow Studios is best known for its work on the One Piece Netflix series, the studio also worked on the Cowboy Bebop live-action show, which was canceled after just one season. The studio’s producers admitted in the Variety report that this was a learning experience for them, considering that Watanabe (who also created Cowboy Bebop) wasn’t involved in their series.
Given that One Piece is a massive success, thanks in large part to the involvement of creator Eiichiro Oda, we’re cautiously optimistic about the Samurai Champloo adaptation, given that Watanabe will be part of its production. Plus, the fact that the producers know that music is a key part of the show’s appeal gives us hope.
For now, there’s no word on when the new Samurai Champloo project will be released.