The Netflix live-action adaptation of Death Note has found its executive producer and writer.
According to Deadline, Netflix has brought in Halia Abdel-Meguid as Death Note‘s executive producer and writer. Abdel-Meguid is said to be a “longtime fan of the manga and anime series” and is fluent in Japanese. The upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation is part of Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer’s new production company called Upside Down.
Some of Abdel-Meguid’s other works include Netflix’s adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s novel The Talisman, which is another project under the Duffer Brothers’ production company, and Hulu’s The Devil in the White City. Prior to starting her screenwriting career, Abdel-Meguid trained in London and graduated from the American Film Institute in 2018.
In 2017, Netflix released a live-action film adaptation of Death Note. It starred Nat Wolff as Light Turner and Keith Stanfield as L. Adam Wingard directed the movie. Charles Parlapanides, Vlas Parlapanides, and Jeremy Slater wrote the screenplay. Despite this previous release, Deadline reports that the upcoming live-action adaptation will be “an entirely new take on the original IP.”
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Death Note is a shonen manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump serialized the manga from 2003 to 2006. Meanwhile, the anime adaptation produced by the animation studio Madhouse aired in 2006. The series contained a total of 37 episodes. As of writing, Death Note has four live-action film adaptations.
Death Note follows the story of Light Yagami, a student who encounters a mysterious notebook with special powers. The notebook is called a Death Note, and it grants its user the power to kill someone as long as they know their target’s face and name. Following this, Light begins using the notebook to target criminals with the hopes of creating a better world. After a string of unexplainable murders, Interpol contacts a genius detective named L to help with the investigation. And so, Light and L begin their series of mind games where they aim to catch each other.