The article doesn't include any firm data concerning the original Death Note movie's popularity on the streaming service, but reveals that Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos referred to the film as being a "sizable" success on an earnings call back in July.
In a much larger article concerning Netflix's movie division and their (not entirely clear) growth strategy, THR reports that a Death Note 2 is actively being written by Greg Russo: the relative newcomer who is also working on the script for the developing Resident Evil movie reboot. Related: Jeffrey Wright Fights Killer Wolves in Netflix's Hold the Dark Trailer Nevertheless, the film clearly attracted a significant number of viewers on Netflix, as now evidenced by the news that a second live-action Death Note installment is making its way down the pipeline. The movie didn't exactly blow critics away upon its debut and was taken to task for whitewashing its source material, among other things.
Wingard's Death Note carries over the basic premise of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's original manga series (in short: boy genius finds notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it, uses it to murder criminals and those he deems "evil"), but otherwise Americanizes its characters and setting. The first Death Note movie was directed by horror filmmaker Adam Wingard (of You're Next and The Guest fame) and premiered on the streaming service almost exactly a year ago, in late August 2017. I'm still baffled that Netflix is moving forward with this sequel at all, but as Netflix chief Reed Hastings so callously put it in response to the 13 Reasons Why backlash, "nobody has to watch it.Netflix is developing a sequel to its live-action Death Note anime/manga film adaptation. Unfortunately, the latter half of the manga series is boring as hell, and I don't know if I trust the Death Note creative team to improve upon it when they botched the adaptation of the best part of the manga.
So Death Note 2 could feasibly strike out on its own (why?) or adapt the second half of the manga series, which follows a new set of detectives on the trail of Light, or as he's known in the serial killer community, Kira. But the fantastically campy Japanese live-action film did so as well, and went on to spawn two wildly entertaining sequels. Wingard's American adaptation of Death Note takes some (bad) creative licenses from the original manga, deviating from the storyline quite a bit. That is, if he's not caught by his police detective father and the genius FBI profiler L ( LaKeith Stanfield) first. The notebook comes equipped with its own god of death, Ryuk ( Willem Dafoe, the only saving grace of the film), who watches with amusement as Light becomes intoxicated with the power of the notebook and uses it to change the world into a "utopia" without crime. Whatever the case, The Hollywood Reporter (via ) noted that Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos called the first Death Note a "sizable" success, which is apparently enough to greenlight a sequel that will be penned by Greg Russo.ĭeath Note follows a Seattle high school student Light ( Nat Wolff) who stumbles upon a supernatural notebook that gives him the power to kill anyone by writing their name while picturing their face. Or perhaps people truly liked this edgy, brutal take on the series. Perhaps the Adam Wingard fans came out in droves. In fact, based on the company's reaction to outcry against 13 Reasons Why and the critical blasting of Bright, that probably only made Death Note stronger. Hounded by whitewashing controversies that had sunk several blockbuster films before it and based off a beloved manga series, Death Note debuted on Netflix last summer to abysmal reviews and outcry from fans of the original manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.īut we all know that wouldn't stop Netflix.
It seemed like Death Note would have been dead in the water before it even premiered. Despite facing a critical thrashing and controversy surrounding the whitewashing of its characters, Death Note is alive and well at Netflix.Ī Death Note sequel is reportedly being developed by the streaming giant, taking the adaptation of the acclaimed anime and manga to even more gruesome depths.