The legendary Rob Bricken has spotted a few rumors relating to the potential live-action Cowboy Bebop movie, some mundane (it may be fast-tracked for a 2010 release) and some…well.

It seems Keanu Reeves is a name being floated to play Spike. Now, Rob doesn’t think it’s such a bad thing, especially since Reeves’ style of acting-by-not-acting isn’t all that out of line for Spike’s own underplayed persona…but mainly, I just think it’d be tough for Keanu Reeves to do the hair. Spike has that cool mane of hair that poofs out but isn’t an afro, and I can’t imagine Keanu pulling off. See the picture above.

The answer: they are now BOTH being made into live-action films, according to a new report from iF Magazine. (Why, oh WHY does this stuff always pop up while I’m on a goddamn airplane?)

Now, I admit to having my concerns. After all, regardless of whether you think it’s fair to say that it looks awful, Dragon Ball hasn’t exactly been an example of a well-marketed film thus far. If it does poorly we might see greenlit-but-not-mid-production films like this get put on the shelf for a while.

On the other hand, Bebop is a really fantastic choice for something like this: it pays homage to a lot of western culture (i.e. westerns) and other things that mainstream western audiences are familiar with, like Bruce Lee and bounty hunters and the particular view of the future that Bebop offers. There isn’t a lot of Japanese cultural stuff to wade through or have to explain to audiences who wouldn’t be used to it.

So, I guess for the moment I am tentatively hopeful, but not holding my breath. In the meantime…anyone got a dream cast (or nightmare cast) they’d like to share?

Bandai has officially announced that Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion will start airing on Cartoon Network on Saturday, April 26th at 1:30am. The slot is currently held by Blood+, which ends on March 22nd. During the interim they’re going to air episodes 12, 13, 25, and 26 of Cowboy Bebop, apparently.

Nipping on the heels of an announcement that a couple of classic Gundam flicks are being released on Sony’s Blu Ray, two other very popular anime movies have been announced for the next-gen format: Vision of Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.

The Gundam discs are out February 22nd; Escaflowne and Bebop are due January 25th.

Edit: Oops, I forgot my source, anime!anime!. Bad journalist! No cookie!