‘Death Note’ First Trailer: Adam Wingard Reimagines the Manga Series in Netflix Original Film

Netflix has released the first trailer for director Adam Wingard’s “Death Note.” The live-action adaptation of the popular manga will be released in August as a Netflix original movie.

The original story from the artist-writer duo of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata centers on a student named Light Turner (Nat Wolff) who finds a mysterious notebook kills people when their name is written in it.

“I think Anime are due for the same treatment that comics got when Nolan did ‘Batman,’ Wingard said during a Reddit AMA last year. “I think the key is straying away from overt Anime style like ‘Speed Racer’ and ‘Dragon Ball’ and instead try to ground the stories in more relatable ways. With ‘Death Note’ I tried to give it a gritty, lived-in look. With that said ‘Death Note’ is going to be my most insane movie yet. It makes ‘The Guest’ look conventional.”

Wingard’s previous film was “Blair Witch,” the sequel to 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project.” The sequel was written by Wingard’s frequent collaborator Simon Barrett, and premiered last September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“Death Note” stars Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Lakeith Stanfield, Paul Nakauchi and Shea Whigham. To watch the trailer the film, check out the video below.

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