Cowboy Bebop: The Movie Gets 4K Remaster for 25th Anniversary
The anniversary is a full commercial event, not a single screening: the remaster runs nationwide with attendee bonuses, and merchandise based on the new visual is already in planning.
Key Facts
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie will screen in a 4K remastered version at theaters across Japan starting October 30, 2026.
- Director Shinichiro Watanabe fully supervised the 4K remaster of Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.
- Toshihiro Kawamoto, the film's character designer and animation director, drew the new 25th anniversary visual.
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie was originally released in Japan on September 1, 2001, and runs 114 minutes.
- Attendee bonuses are planned for the special screenings, and merchandise featuring the new anniversary visual is in development.
Reporting from 3 sources: Cinema Today, Anime Corner, Anime Anime.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, the 2001 feature set between episodes 22 and 23 of the Cowboy Bebop TV series, is returning to Japanese theaters in a 4K remastered version starting October 30, 2026. The remaster was created under the full supervision of director Shinichiro Watanabe, who said he hopes audiences will experience "the crystallization of the passion and soul we poured into this work, in the darkness of a movie theater." The announcement came with a new 25th anniversary visual drawn by Toshihiro Kawamoto, the film's character designer and animation director, with background art by Atsushi Morikawa and main title design by Toshiaki Uesugi of Mach 55. The film follows Spike Spiegel and the Bebop crew as they chase a 300 million woolong bounty tied to a bioterror incident on Mars, a case that leads them to a man who was supposed to have died in a past war.
The film, originally released in Japan on September 1, 2001, runs 114 minutes and was produced by Sunrise, BONES, and Bandai Visual, with animation production by BONES. Yoko Kanno composed the music. The story follows Spike Spiegel and the Bebop crew as they investigate a bioterror incident in Alba City on Mars, chasing a 300 million woolong bounty placed on the perpetrator. Faye's footage of the incident reveals a man who was supposed to have died in a past war.
The cast includes Koichi Yamadera as Spike, Megumi Hayashibara as Faye, Unsho Ishizuka as Jet, Aoi Tada as Ed, Tsutomu Isobe as Vincent, and Ai Kobayashi as Electra. Familiar supporting characters from the TV series, including Punch and Judy of BIG SHOT and the trio of old men, also appear. The 4K remaster will screen at cinemas across Japan, including locations in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Aichi, and Hiroshima. Attendee bonuses will be distributed at the special screenings, and merchandise featuring the new anniversary visual is in planning, with further details expected.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.