"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 tells Variety.

Now, the series has reached what is, if you squint and aren’t too picky about it, one of the ultimate compliments any anime series can get, wanted or not, in 2026: It’s being remade into a live-action...