Back in July, we learned that the Duffer Brothers, the creators of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, will be executive producing a live-action series based on the Japanese manga and anime series Death Note for the streaming service. Now Deadline has broken the news that the Death Note series has found its lead writer: Halia Abdel-Meguid, who is said to be a longtime fan of the source material. Deadline also notes that Abdel-Meguid speaks Japanese and has previously lived in Tokyo.
Abdel-Meguid will be executive producing Death Note alongside the Duffers, who are producing through their recently formed company Upside Down Pictures. Dan Lin and Roy Lee are also executive producers, while Jonathan Eirich and Miri Yoon are on board as co-executive producers.
The original Death Note focuses on a bright teenager who discovers a mysterious black notebook that gives him supernatural power over life and death, the latter caused by writing a person’s name in the book. The teen becomes intoxicated with power as he decides to cleanse the world of undesirables, as a law enforcement team tries to stop him.
This Death Note series will be “an entirely new take” that is not connected to the Adam Wingard feature that was released through Netflix five years ago. (You can read our own Eric Walkuski’s review of that movie HERE.)
Abdel-Meguid also worked as a writer on the Hulu adaptation of The Devil in the White City (which recently lost both star Keanu Reeves and director Todd Field, so it’s not looking good for that one right now), and worked with the Duffers as a writing consultant on their series adaptation of the Stephen King and Peter Straub novel The Talisman.
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