In the wake of the major success of their live-action adaptation of anime juggernaut “One Piece,” Tomorrow Studios has announced plans for a live-action adaptation of the cult anime “Samurai Champloo,” reports Variety.
The original series follows Mugen and Jin, the former a ferocious warrior with a break-dancing fighting style and the latter a cold-blooded ronin samurai who wanders the countryside alone. When ditzy waitress Fuu gets them out of hot water with the local magistrate, they agree to join her search for the samurai who smells like sunflowers.
The project is reportedly in early development and Tomorrow Studios, run by producers Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements, has not yet taken it out to networks or streamers.
Tomorrow Studios previously adapted “Samurai Champloo” creator Shinichirō Watanabe’s other most defining work into live-action – Netflix’s disastrous “Cowboy Bebop” series. That 2021 show was widely panned and quickly cancelled after one season.
Watanabe wasn’t involved much in that adaptation, and having learned from that mistake, Adelstein says this time around Watanabe will be much more hands-on: “We’ve learned. Having the creator there to bless the creative is really important.”
Clements adds: “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. We were thrilled that he was willing to do that.”
Indeed, original “One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda is heavily involved on the creative side of Netflix’s live-action adaptation across all stages of production. That resulted in a work that has become the definitive anime-to-live action standard all others are measured against and ranks among Netflix’s most-streamed series of all time. The show’s second season launched yesterday to rave reviews, with a third currently in production.
The plan is to retain the core elements of “Samurai Champloo” fans love while updating the material for a contemporary television audience. The original’s hip-hop-inflected score will be central to the process.
