Adam Wingard, the director behind indie favorites You’re Next and The Guest, has added a new entry to his growing list of projects: according to THR, Wingard has just signed on for an adaptation of popular Japanese manga Death Note for Warner Bros.
The manga was previously adapted into a popular anime series, which in turn spawned a pair of live-action films in its native country. The story follows a teenage boy who stumbles upon an enchanted notebook and discovers that he can kill anyone he wants, simply by writing their name in the book. He decides to “cleanse the world of evil,” while a mysterious private detective attempts to track him down.
Death Note has been gestating at Warner Bros. for some time, with the latest draft from Fantastic Four scribe Jeremy Slater. Iron Man 3 director Shane Black was attached to the project before Wingard came onboard, but the project stalled out when the studio proposed changes to the source material that Black didn’t approve.
That was back in 2011, and hopefully the story issues have been ironed out at this point. But before Wingard can begin rolling camera on Death Note, he’ll spend the summer shooting The Woods for Lionsgate, marking another collaboration with screenwriter Simon Barrett.
We’ll keep you posted on Wingard’s Death Note adaptation as more information becomes available.
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