Netflix announced that principal photography begins Thursday on the original feature film Death Note from director Adam Wingard (The Guest, You’re Next). Death Note will shoot in Canada and the U.S. and stars Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars) as Light Turner; Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys, The Leftovers) as Mia Sutton; Keith Stanfield (Straight Outta Compton, Dope, Short Term 12) as “L”; Paul Nakauchi (Alpha and Omega) as Watari; and Shea Whigham (Agent Carter, Boardwalk Empire) as James Turner. The film will be produced by Roy Lee (The Ring, The Departed), Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Sherlock Holmes), Jason Hoffs (Edge of Tomorrow), and Masi Oka (Heroes Reborn, Hawaii-Five-0).
Based on the famous Japanese manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note follows a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone’s name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.
“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,” said director Adam Wingard.
“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,” stated producers Roy Lee and Dan Lin.
Miri Yoon (Behaving Badly), Jonathan Eirich (Hammerspace), John Powers Middleton (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, The Lego Movie), and Brendan Ferguson (Big Eyes, Reasonable Doubt) are executive producers.
Death Note will premiere globally on Netflix in 2017.
