Warner Bros acquires rights to ‘Death Note’ Manga

There’s no doubt that the Anime and Manga trend has hit the United States hard, spawning cosplay fever nationwide. With so many potential sources of new material out there for Hollywood to jump on, the Manga universe can be a little daunting. So, it seems to make sense that they ease into it with a project that’s relatively straight forward, at least in terms of conveying the story on film. [Especially considering the “real” first attempt, being that of ‘Dragonball Evolution’, failed miserably.]

Warner Brothers has picked up the rights to the hugely popular Japanese Manga property known as ‘Death Note’ and plans to adapt this into a live-action feature film. The original Manga has already been translated into a Japanese Anime series as well as three Japanese-language films.

The original best-selling 13-volume Manga was written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. Charley and Vlas Parlapanides have been brought onto the project to write the screenplay. ‘Death Note’ follows a college law student with reservations about the state of his legal system’s effectiveness who coincidentally stumbles upon a mysterious notebook called ‘Death Note’ which gives it’s possessor the power to kill a person simply by writing their name in the book. Possessing the book also allows that person to see and interact with it’s shinigami (death god).

I haven’t read the manga or seen the anime series, but have seen all three movies and find the story fascinating. I have been told that the series and the books are even better, which tells me that Warner Brothers has a potential gold mine in their grasp if they handle it properly. Given their recent track record of being one of the few major studios consistently releasing quality, watchable films, the cards could very likely be stacked in favor of a huge ‘Death Note’ burst in popularity, of which could easily rival that of the dwindling ‘Dragonball’ culture here in America.

[source: Variety]