We know thus far that the project is targeting a hard R-rating. Producer Roy Lee spoke with Collider about the long-discussed adaptation of the horror manga and confirmed that the picture will absolutely be rated R.
The film was originally slated to shoot last Spring but has been plagued by a series of starts and stops. So, it is great to see this finally getting off the ground. Warner Brothers has had the rights to adapt the property for more than five years. When the studio failed to act within that time frame, the rights reverted and Netflix swooped in and acquired them.
As we said before, Adam Wingard is attached to direct the US feature film adaptation of the manga. It has already been developed for the big screen in Japan and that adaptation was followed by a sequel.
According to the press release, the film will star Nat Wolff (Paper Towns), Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys), Keith Stanfield (Straight Outta Compton), Paul Nakauchi (Alpha and Omega), and Shea Whigham (Agent Carter).
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 (The Predator) was attached to direct prior to Adam Wingard coming on board.
No word on a specific release date at this point but the streaming service has indicated that the picture will debut some time in 2017.
Plot outline from Netflix: “Based on the famous Japanese manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note follows a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone’s name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.”
