Variety is reporting that Netflix has taken the reigns on Adam Wingard’s live-action manga/anime adaptation Death Note after Warner Bros. recently put the project into turnaround. This follows on word that WB is reprioritizing its production slate to focus more on its tentpoles (LEGO, Harry Potter, DC Comics). Nat Wolff (Paper Towns) and Margaret Qualley (“The Leftovers”) are already lined up to star in the adaptation.
The supernatural thriller aims to bring to the big screen the 13-volume series previously adapted as both an anime and as a live-action film franchise in Japan. Written by Tsugumi Ohba with art by Takeshi Obata, the Death Note comics are officially described as follows:
“Light Yagami is a genius high school student who is about to learn about life through a book of death. When a bored shinigami, a God of Death, named Ryuk drops a black notepad called a Death Note, Light receives power over life and death with the stroke of a pen. Determined to use this dark gift for the best, Light sets out to rid the world of evil… namely the people he believes to be evil. Should anyone hold such power? The consequences of Light’s actions will set the world ablaze.”
Adam Wingard (You’re Next, The Guest) will begin production on Death Note this June from a screenplay by Fantastic Four‘s Jeremy Slater. Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Jason Hoffs and Masi Oka will produce, with Brian Witten and Doug Davison serving as executive producer.
