We talked last summer about Erwin Stoff directing a live action Cowboy Bebop movie, but at that point it was just on deck and not finalized.

Now the movie is greenlit and Keanu Reeves is reuniting with the Constantine director to play Bebop’s lead Spike Spiegel.

MovieWeb confirms:

Fox is bringing the beloved series Cowboy Bebop to the big screen. Keanu Reeves has signed on to portray the lead, Spike Spiegel.

The series revolves around Spiegel and Jet Black, two bounty hunters in the year 2071, who pilot the ship, “Bebop” and travel through “astral gates” that allow for inter-stellar travel, to track down the galaxy’s criminals.

The fanboys will be up in a fit about this already. Anime is difficult enough to adapt to the big screen, mostly because no matter who they pick to play the main characters the fanboys will insist they got it wrong.

But Bebop sounds like it promises to be a great action flick in a unique sci-fi setting. Keanu seems to adapt well to alternate future stories, and with any luck we will see a more animated Reeves instead of his dry wooden presence.

Spiegel is a sarcastic dry wit, a ladies man, always smiling and cracking a joke. We know Keanu can do this, he just doesn’t. This could be an opportunity for him to lighten up and throw some fun out on the screen. That and Spiegel as a kickass fighter and pulls some crazy stunts. I can’t wait to see how they adapt this.