10 Upcoming Movie Adaptations Of Japanese Anime (And If They Will Work)
5. Death Note
The Anime:
Based on Tsugumi Ohba's much-loved manga of the same name, Death Note is the story of high school student Light Yagami and his discovery of a mysterious notebook. The book, which belongs to a malicious Shinigami (spirits of death in Japanese culture), gives the user the power to end a life simply by writing down a person's name in its pages. When Light discovers the book's dark secret, he proclaims himself a God and sets about ridding the world of all who he deems morally unfit to live.
What We Know:
Iron Man 3 director Shane Black was signed on to helm a live-action version of Death Note for a while, and when he stepped aside Gus Van Sant was briefly in the frame, though the honour finally went to up-and-coming horror director Adam Wingard. Netflix announced just this week that principal photography has begun on Wingard’s version of Death Note, with Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) cast as Light, whose second name has been changed from Yagami to Turner.
Will It Work?
If Wingard's previous work is anything to go by, then Death Note looks certain to be a hit. His two previous films You're Next and The Guest boast Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes scores of 75% and 90% respectively, and the 33-year-old has already calmed the fears of fans worried about the Americanization of Death Note, revealing that he plans on "staying true to the story’s concept of moral relevance - a universal theme that knows no racial boundaries.”