The live-action adaptation of the widely-loved smirk hit a roadblock. Lead actor, John Cho, was subjected to a freak accident during the last scene of an episode, which left him seriously injured and in need of surgery. Because of this, Netflix is putting a halt on shooting until Cho fully recovers in Spring or Summer, 2020.
The series was only a few episodes in, so they could have feasibly cast someone else, but it seems Netflix is dedicated to Cho’s portrayal. “Our thoughts are with John and he has our complete support as he recuperates from this injury.” a Netflix spokesperson told Deadline.
Chris Yost is writing and executive producing alongside Sunrise’s Yasuo Miyakawa, Masayuki Ozaki, and Shin Sasaki. Executive producing duties will also fall on Tetsu Fujimura and Matthew Weinberg. To make it as much like their series as possible, Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe is going to act as a consultant.
Tomorrow Studios is co-producing the series in tandem with Netflix, the latter being in charge of physical production.
