The English film adaptation of Death Note has been long-in-development. While the metaphysical thriller manga has already been adapted into a successful two-season anime series and a 2006 Japanese film, last April it was reported that Warner Bros. had purchased the rights to make their own Americanized version of the story. Shane Black (The Nice Guys, Iron Man 3) was once attached to direct, but later backed out, leaving Adam Wingard (You’re Next) to pick up the project with a script by Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four). Things looked to be gaining some traction on the project as Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) was cast as the series protagonist, Light Yagami a.k.a Kira, and Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys) as his obsessive fangirl/sidekick Misa Amane. Then Warner Bros. dropped the project, likely as an early casualty of their “no-more-risks” initiative, and their option passed to Netflix, who picked up right where WB left off.
For those not familiar with the property, Death Note involves a young student, Light, finding a notebook that allows him to kill people simply by writing their names in it. After Light begins a vigilante campaign to purge criminals from the world, a reclusive detective known as “L” begins the hunt for the supernatural serial killer.
Now there’s one more name written in the Death Note, as Variety is reporting that Keith Stanfield (Short Term 12, Straight Outta Compton) will co-star. Stanfield’s role has not been announced, but considering he’s only a few years older than Wolff, it’s possible this might be our “L” – though he could play another character from the source material or an entirely original role.
The production of Netflix’s Death Note is still in the early stages, so it remains to be seen how this adaptation moves forward. Are you excited about the American reboot of Death Note? Sound off in the comments section.
Filming on the Death Note remake is scheduled to begin this summer.
Source: ScreenRant, Variety
L is not black , there are black characters in the series but not L , you need to recast , this is not being racist this is coming from a huge fan and he looks NOTHING like L , this is complete bullshit , I’m not the only one who feels this way , recast or your film will flop