Samurai Champloo (Live Action)

*‘One Piece’ Producers Tomorrow Studios to Adapt ‘Samurai Champloo’ With Creator Shinichirō Watanabe (EXCLUSIVE)* *Source - Variety:* https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/tomorrow-studios-adapt-samurai-champloo-1236674804/ Tomorrow Studios is developing a live-action adaptation of the cult anime “Samurai Champloo,” with original series creator Shinichirō Watanabe attached to the project, the studio’s executive producers told Variety exclusively. The adaptation would mark the next major swing from producers Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements, who built Tomorrow Studios into a premier destination for anime-to-live-action adaptations on the back of their Netflix hit “One Piece.” The news comes as “One Piece” Season 2 premieres Tuesday on Netflix, with the first two episodes set for a special theatrical run in approximately 200 movie theaters across the U.S., Canada and Japan beginning March 10. “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,” Clements told Variety. “We were thrilled that he was willing to do that.” The project is in early development, and Tomorrow Studios has not yet taken it out to networks, though Clements said the studio has received “a lot of incoming calls” about the property. The adaptation will retain the core elements fans love while updating the material for a contemporary television audience. Clements said music will be central to the process — the original anime’s hip-hop-inflected score was a defining characteristic — and that the studio plans to bring in a major recording artist early to help establish the show’s sound. The production company previously adapted Watanabe’s other signature work, “Cowboy Bebop,” for Netflix in 2021, though that series was canceled after one season. Clements acknowledged Watanabe was less involved creatively on that project. “We’ve learned,” said Adelstein. “Having the creator there to bless the creative is really important.”