The U.S. theatrical premiere took place on
August 31, 2002 at the
Big Apple Anime Fest. The showing was completely sold out.
Shinichiro Watanabe, the director,
Toshihiro Kawamoto, character designer, and
Yoko Kanno, who is responible for
Cowboy Bebop's beautifully distict music, were all there at the premiere. There was a casual Q&A with the three of them before the movie began(from what I've read).
The body parts I would have given...
It was, unfortunately,
dubbed, but the dub featured most of the original dub cast, which people inexplicably seem to be able to tolerate and even enjoy, the fools.
While the English title in Japan was
Knockin' on Heaven's Door,
Columbia TriStar seems to have changed the U.S. title to simply Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.
There was a special preview of the movie in
Los Angeles on August 11th, which was subbed, and according to some sources, a Columbia representative was present and stated that, "...not only will there be a wide theatrical release of the film, but in those areas showing the film on multiple screens, Columbia will insist that both the sub and the dub be shown."
(www.jazzmess.com)
Perhaps I'll finally get to see my favorite anime on the big screen before I get shipped off to
Camp Pendleton.
You can get a brief synopsis of the movie at www.cowboybebop.org(an archive of the official site, which is down now for some reason), or try
Knockin' on Heaven's Door.