Adam Wingard Signs on to Direct Death Note Adaptation

We have learned that Adam Wingard will be directing the big screen adaptation of a horror manga Death Note. The film has already been adapted for the big screen in Japan which has received a sequel. The project will be housed at Warner Brothers. It has been in development for more than five years but we are finally seeing some movement.

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 was attached to direct prior to Wingard coming on board.

No word on casting or a targeted release date at this point but you can expect that it will be a while before the film hits the big screen as Wingard will not be available until he is finished directing The Woods for LionsGate. That project is slated to shoot this summer.

THR says that: “The story centers on a student who discovers a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone by writing the victim’s name, who then decides to cleanse the world of whom he deems evil. As the student is tracked by a reclusive police officer, a cat-and-mouse game ensues.”