Five years ago, Netflix brought us a live-action feature film adaptation of Death Note, a Japanese manga and anime series originally written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The Netflix movie was directed by Adam Wingard, and didn’t go over very well with fans of the source material. (You can read our own Eric Walkuski’s review of the movie HERE.) We’ve been hearing from time to time – even as recently as last September – that a sequel to Wingard’s film was still in development… but now Deadline reports that Netflix is shifting gears and moving ahead with a live-action series adaptation of Death Note that will be produced by the Duffer Brothers, the creators of the streaming service’s hit series Stranger Things. The Duffers will be producing Death Note through their newly formed company Upside Down Pictures.
Deadline reminds that 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.
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They add that the Duffer Brothers’ Death Note series will be “an entirely new take” that is not connected to the Wingard feature.
Other projects in the works at Upside Down Pictures include a Stranger Things spin-off, an original series from creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), a series adaptation of the Stephen King / Peter Straub novel The Talisman, and a new stage play set within the world and mythology of Stranger Things, produced by Sonia Friedman, Stephen Daldry, and Netflix.
Are you glad to hear the Duffer Brothers will be producing a live-action series based on Death Note? Share your thoughts on this project by leaving a comment below.
