The IFMagazine.com entertainment website reports that film producer Erwin Stoff (The Matrix, A Scanner Darkly) is developing a live-action adaptation of Sunrise's Cowboy Bebop multi-genre action anime series for Fox. Stoff told the website that the project is "in the really early stages" since the parties "just signed it the other day." Shinichiro Watanabe's original anime follows the motley crew of the spaceship Bebop as it travels throughout the solar system in search of the next job. Stoff promised "a real degree of faithfulness," and added, “When I met with them in Japan, one of the first things that I brought up was the experience that we had on A Scanner Darkly, and how hard we worked to remain faithful to Philip K. Dick, and that was our big concern here.”

The anime distributor Bandai Entertainment and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block released the original 1998 television series in the United States, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the subsequent 2001 animated movie. The anime was also adapted into two separate manga series, and Tokyopop released both manga series in North America. A Bandai Entertainment representative was unable to publicly comment on this report.

Source: Anime News Network

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The official Japanese website of the seven-part Kara no Kyoukai - the Garden of sinners film franchise has posted the trailer for the fifth film, Mujun Rasen, in 1MB or 500KB bandwidth. (The video requires recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system and Windows Media Player software.) Mujun Rasen expands upon the earlier films' supernatural suspense plot and will open in Japan on August 16.

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō

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The official Japanese website of the TV Tokyo station has posted a new promotional movie for Production I.G and Sega's World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin anime series. The anime ties into the story of Sega's World Destruction role-playing game for the Nintendo DS. Both projects revolve around a boy named Kirie Irunisu who secretly possesses the power to destroy the world. While one party seeks to save the world, another party aims to eradicate the world and start anew, and it forces Kirie to join — despite being unaware of his power. The anime premiered on TV Tokyo on July 7.

Source: Moon Phase

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The North American distributor Funimation has announced in its Monday video update that it has acquired the Baccano! anime series. Funimation's official website for the series is streaming the first English-subtitled episode for users who type in the anime's featured train (Flying Pussyfoot) as the password. Takahiro Omori directed this Aniplex adaptation of Ryohgo Narita's light novel series about immortal alchemists, thieves, and killers whose paths meet in the United States during the Roaring Twenties.

Source: Anime News Network

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The Disney Channel in Japan has launched the official website for the Japanese-animated Stitch! television spinoff based on Disney's Lilo & Stitch film, and the site is streaming a promotional video from the series. (In the linked page, select the third button on the lefthand side to see the video.) In the new story, the alien creature Stitch is running off on the mad scientist Jumba's space scooter when he gets caught in a space storm and has to make an emergency landing at Izayoi Island, the southermost tip of Japan. There, he meets Yūna, a spirited fourth-grade girl who happens to know karate. Yūna tells Stitch about the Stone of Chitama, a mysterious object that can make any wish come true. However, he has to perform 43 good deeds to receive his wish.

The series will premiere on Japanese television this October. The site has an introduction to the story (first blue button on the left) and profiles (second blue button on the left) of the six main characters , including Stitch, Yūna, the native creature Kijimunaa, Yūna's grandmother Obā, the galactic agent Pleakley, and Jamba. Disney first announced the series in March, and it screened a pilot video during the Tokyo International Anime Fair that month.

Source: Moon Phase

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