Producer Roy Lee spoke with Collider about the long-discussed adaptation of the horror manga Death Note and he had some interesting things to say. He offered some insight as to what we can expect from the film’s tone as well as confirmed that the picture will absolutely be shooting for an R-Rating.
Lee said that it is a movie they are planning on shooting this year. As for the target audience, he offered the following: “It’s definitely for adults. It is zero chance it will be below an R-rating,” He followed that up by saying that tonally, the film “will be one of the first manga adaptations that feels very grounded but still has fantastical elements.”
The film was originally slated to shoot last Spring but has been plagued by a series of starts and stops. So, it will be great to see this finally get off the ground. Warner Brothers has had the rights to adapt the property for more than five years, so, it has definitely been a long road to get the ball rolling on this one.
Adam Wingard is attached to direct the US feature film adaptation of the manga. It has already been adapted for the big screen in Japan which has been followed by a sequel.
Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Jason Hoffs and Masi Oka will be producing the adaptation. Doug Davison and Brian Witten are executive producing. Jeremy Slater penned the most recent draft of the script. Shane Black was attached to direct prior to Wingard coming on board. Nat Wolff (Paper Towns) is reportedly on board to star.
No word on a targeted release date at this point but you can expect that it will be a while before the film hits the big screen. Wingard is a talented and highly capable director. I am extremely excited to see how he adapts the source material.
Plot outline from THR: “The story centers on a student who discovers a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone by writing the victim’s name, who then decides to cleanse the world of whom he deems evil. As the student is tracked by a reclusive police officer, a cat-and-mouse game ensues.”
