A new Death Note live-action series is on the way to Netflix.
As reported by Deadline, Netflix has teamed up with Upside Down Pictures, the production company helmed by Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer, to create a new live-action adaptation of Death Note. The new show will not be connected to Netflix's infamous 2017 adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's widely celebrated manga series. More details about the new adaptation, including its cast, crew and release date, have yet to be announced.
In addition to the new Death Note adaptation, Netflix will also team up with the Duffers for a Stranger Things spinoff and an adaptation of Stephen King's The Talisman. "Matt and Ross are an exceptionally unique talent with a vision so crisp and clear," said Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos about the new projects on the way from the Duffer brothers. "They are all about the details — it’s no accident that Stranger Things has pierced the zeitgeist to become the epic pop culture phenomenon it is today."
Death Note was originally created by Ohba and Obata in 2003. The series told the story of Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers the Death Note, a supernatural book that allows him to determine the time and cause of death of any individual whose name he writes in the book. Light decides to use the book to punish criminals and reform the world based on his ideals, but his vigilante murders put him up against the world's law enforcement agencies, who recruit the genius detective known as L to track him down.
Ohba and Obata's manga was a massive worldwide phenomenon, selling more than 30 million copies around the globe. The manga was adapted into an anime series which was produced by Madhouse, the studio behind the original Trigun anime, in 2006. The anime was broadcast in the United States by Adult Swim and maintains a strong cult following to this day.
The same cannot be said of Netflix's previous attempt at creating a live-action Death Note movie, which was directed by Adam Wingard (Godzilla vs. Kong) and starred Nat Wolff (The Naked Brothers Band), Lakeith Stanfield (Knives Out) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home). That movie was released in 2017 and was widely panned by professional critics and fans alike for its substantial changes to the original story and its failure to recapture the tension and themes of the source material. It is widely regarded as one of the worst live-action anime adaptations ever released, which says a lot in a world where Dragon Ball Evolution also exists.
Source: Deadline