Keanu Reeves Spills the Bean on Live-Action 'Cowboy Bebop' Project

Keanu Reeves reveals in recent interview that he is indeed involved in the "Cowboy Bebop" live-action project. "We're trying to do that," the 44-year-old told MTV News of the project though not giving any clue on whether he is attached to portray Spike Spiegel, as many have speculated back in July.

Suggesting that the feature adaptation of the popular Japanese anime is moving forward, the star of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" claims, "We've got the rights, we've got a writer. He's putting together a scene outline." He further lets out that the idea for the storyline is to focus on the origins of the "Bebop" drug developed by the military, which allows its users to get a brief surge of superhuman reflexes and awareness.

"We're taking the Red Eye [story]," Reeves explains further on where the story will be taken from, "the beginning part of the series and then we'll deal with the end of the series. We're trying to figure out [the time frame]. We're looking at the story right now." He then adds on the difficulties of making the series into a movie, "...it's so episodic and so disconnected. We're trying to figure out what pieces to put together to tell one story."

"Because it's such a short form, to make a 2 hour version [will be tough]. And it's got so much of an origin-story obligation; you've got to get people up to speed, but you don't want to do much of that. There are a lot of things to take into consideration, but we think we can do something good."

"Cowboy Bebop" itself is a popular Japanese anime series directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. The story is set in the year of 2071 A.D. where nation-states have collapsed and people are living throughout the solar system. It is centered on a group of bounty hunters known as 'Cowboys' who travel together on a spaceship named 'Bebop' to capture criminals for the money rewards.