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Simultaneously highly anticipated by its fans and under-the-radar as far as the general movie-going audience is concerned, Adam Wingard’s Death Note movie adaptation is one of the more interesting Hollywood productions out there today. Based on the manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note has already been adapted into three live-action films, a live-action TV series, and even a musical. There are plans for a fourth film subtitled “Light Up the New World” due out in Japan this October, but Wingard’s adaptation would be the first Western adaptation.

Netflix announced today that principal photography has begun on Wingard’s version of Death Note and will be shooting in Canada and the U.S. It stars Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) as Light Turner, Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers) as Mia Sutton, Keith Stanfield (Straight Outta Compton) as “L,” Paul Nakauchi (Alpha and Omega) as Watari, and Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as James Turner. The film will be produced by Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Jason Hoffs, and Masi Oka.

The first thing that fans of the manga/movies/anime will probably spot is the name change of the main characters. Wolff’s character Light Turner is the protagonist, a high schooler who’s long been named Light Yagami in the source material. When he finds a powerful notebook, which has the ability to kill people just by writing their name in it, his good intention of ridding the world of crime through murder soon draws the attention of the local authorities. One of them is the world’s greatest detective, known as “L,” a name which carries over from the manga. His assistant Watari keeps that character’s name consistent in this new movie, as well. Light does have some support other than the supernatural variety, however, in the form of Mia Sutton, who’s presumably stepping into the role of Misa Amane from the manga. This is a solid cast so far, but what’s more interesting to me will be the casting decision for the supernatural entity known as Ryuk.

Here’s what Wingard had to say about the chance to adapt this decidedly original piece of fiction:

“I am honored to be working with this great cast and I look forward to bringing Tsugumi and Takeshi’s unique story to a global audience.”

And despite some name changes, producers Lee and Lin are looking forward to introducing new audiences to this story while being mindful of having a diverse cast:

“Our vision for Death Note has always been to bring this captivating story to the screen for its longtime manga fans and to introduce the world to this dark and mysterious masterpiece. The talent and diversity represented in our cast, writing, and producing teams reflect our belief in staying true to the story’s concept of moral relevance — a universal theme that knows no racial boundaries.”

No release date has been announced for the film just yet, but with production just now getting into gear, we should be expecting an announcement within the next few months.

Are you excited to see what Wingard comes up with for Death Note? Let us know in the comments below! In the meantime, get caught up on our latest Death Note coverage with the following articles:

• ‘The Predator,’ ‘Death Note’ and ‘Okja’ Filming Dates and Locations Revealed
• ‘Death Note’ Movie Heads to Netflix After Being Dropped by Warner Bros.
• Exclusive: ‘Death Note’ Movie Rating and Tone Revealed
• ‘Death Note': Nat Wolff to Lead Adam Wingard’s Manga Adaptation
• YOU’RE NEXT and THE GUEST Director Adam Wingard to Helm DEATH NOTE

Based on the manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note has already been adapted into three live-action films, a live-action TV series, and even a musical.

It stars Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) as Light Turner

Light Turner

Turner

Paul Nakauchi (Alpha and Omega) as Watari

Paul Nakauchi (Alpha and Omega)

Alpha and Omega

I REALLY HATE POKEMON!, post: 1609636, member: 18119 wrote:I was looking forward to this movie ever since I learned about it

Death Note has already been adapted into three live-action films, a live-action TV series, and even a musical.

IRHP]They [...] made L black because wrote: L's race has nothing to do with the plot, & he isn't a blood relative of any other non-black character, so I genuinely don't care, & neither should you.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

CaptHayfever, post: 1609637, member: 25169 wrote:...And an anime series. In fact, the anime is possibly the best-known format of it. Why would they leave that off the list?

CaptHayfever]...the hell?[/quote] They probably want to reduce the Asian aspects wrote:If Alpha & Omega is the thing people best remember you from, then you are not an actor worth being excited about.

CaptHayfever]L's race has nothing to do with the plot wrote:
Arbitrarily switching around gender, race, and such just to push an agenda is contemptible. People were mad that Ghost in the Shell has white actors portraying Asian characters (despite the fact that most anime characters look white so it makes sense) yet everyone is always okay with making non-black actors suddenly black, especially if they were white to begin with (it's actually been a praised move in the past). In light of these issues, yes, I should care, and so should you.

CuccoLady]I'm gonna make this point once and then drop it because I don't have the energy for this debate -- the vast majority of anime characters are Japanese wrote:
I disagree, CL. Also, at least some Japanese people would disagree with you. In this video, when asked "Some Japanese anime such as Naruto have blond characters with blue eyes even though the story takes place in Japan. What do you think is the reason?," one Japanese woman speculated "Because we are fascinated by white people?" I don't know why you would think all Japanese people would think as you suggest, because that line of thinking is illogical. Nobody is going to perceive this as Japanese:



For the record, if I look at a stick figure I perceive it as a raceless representation of a generic human being, or super-scary featureless stick demon. Maybe I'm alone in that and everyone else is just imprinting aspects of themselves onto everything like a bunch of narcissists, though. Pretty sure it's that last one.

CuccoLady]There are proportionately[i] very few[/i] white people in Japan wrote:
But there's evidence that they do base their characters after white people. It's rather obvious and pretty much undeniable, it can be observed that white people and Asian people have different physical configurations from each other, a child can deduce this in an instant. However, here's something more visual to show that the designs are a conscious decision:







To deny this is to deny the reality that anime characters are drawn to resemble white people, even the ones intended to be Japanese.

CuccoLady]Want to know what an anime character who is intended to be white is? Maximilian Pegasus and Jodie from Detective Conan come to mind. They are voiced with intentionally awful accents wrote:
A character intended to be white and a character intended to look white are not the same. It makes no sense to try to cast a Japanese person as Edward Elric if a Hollywood film version of Fullmetal Alchemist ever comes to fruition, and that's all there is to that, really.