Of all the films that Netflix is releasing in 2017, Adam Wingard’s adaptation of the Japanese manga DEATH NOTE is the one I’m most excited for, and now there’s a stylish teaser online.
As a huge fan of Wingard’s The Guest and You’re Next, I started reading Death Note as soon as he moved the project from Warner Bros. to Netflix, knowing I was racing against the clock since the streaming service actually had the guts to make this crazy movie.
Written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the manga is comprised of 12 volumes that run over 2400 pages combined. I’ve read nearly 1400 pages of the Death Note saga, and though the story gets a repetitive, there are enough juicy twists and turns to make a killer two-hour movie.
If you’re not familiar with the plot, it follows a high school student who stumbles upon a supernatural notebook that gives him the ability to kill just by writing someone’s name in it while picturing their face. Drunk on his new godlike power, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.
Some of the names of have changed, but Nat Wolff stars as Light Turner, while Willem Dafoe voices Ryuk the Shinigami. The film co-stars Margaret Qualley as Mia, Lakeith Stanfield as L, Paul Nakauchi as Watari, Shea Whigham as James Turner and Masi Oka in an undisclosed role.
Death Note will premiere exclusively on Netflix on August 25, which can’t come soon enough judging by this impressive teaser.
Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief
