Director Reveals New Details on 'Death Note' Live-Action Film

By Yuri Mangahas - 16 Sep '16 03:05AM

Fresh off the release of the latest horror film "Blair Witch," Adam Wingard opens up to Collider and shares a few details regarding the upcoming live-action adaptation of the hit manga and anime series, "Death Note."

Wingard spoke with Collider's Steven Weintraub this week, and did a comparison between his latest film, and his take with "Death Note." While he described "Blair Witch" as more of a mainstream horror flick, he likens the tone of his "Death Note" iteration to "The Guest," commenting that it brings him back to "the realm of the weird."

He was then quizzed if "Death Note" would contain Netflix-grade gore, to which he responded, "We can do whatever we want. That was the cool thing about it because it's an anime film. So, technically, it's a cartoon that you're bringing to life. To me, the thing about anime is that it's so adult-oriented. I remember going to Suncoast growing up and you see Akira there with the little "Not for Kids" sticker on it. That always made an impact on me.

So, doing my first live-action anime thing, to me it was important that you have those adult themes. So, it's got nudity, it's got swearing, it's got a ton of violence. Jason Eisener, who did Hobo with a Shotgun. I brought him on - I'm good friends with him - as second-unit director. There's basically like three good Jason Eisner short films in there and they're all very gory. I was able to just turn him loose sometime, and just do some crazy stuff."

Furthermore, he added that "Death Note" serves as an experiment of sorts, as it gave him room to explore occult and crime themes. "Just like The Guest, there is every kind of sub-genre mixed in [*Death Note*]. It's a bit more of a return to form for me."

The director also participated in an AMA on Reddit, and was asked regarding the specific style which will be seen in "Death Note," musing that it will be similar to Nolan's "The Dark Knight Trilogy."

"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."

Published in 2003, "Death Note" tells the story of Light Yagami, as he bears possession of a mysterious notebook capable of killing anyone whose name is written on it. He then uses the notebook as a means to deliver his own brand of justice.

"Death Note" is set to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2017.