Adam Wingard's DEATH NOTE has now been released on Netflix, but the reviews of Wingard's adaptation of the Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata manga have been rather mixed; of course, that's certainly not enough for Netflix to pump the brakes on a potential sequel. DEATH NOTE follows Light Turner (Nat Wolff), a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook which grants him the power to kill any person simply by writing down their name on the pages. Helping him uncover the mysteries of the Death Note is Ryuk (Willem Dafoe), the bored demon who dropped the Death Note into the human realm in the first place.
While speaking with THR, Adam Wingard reveals that he pitched DEATH NOTE to Netflix as a potential franchise, with the goal being to produce two or three movies. "At the end of the day, there are a lot of places to explore where to take Light. And ultimately the series is sort of about almost his downfall as a character. This is sort of the beginning of it or the origin of it," Wingard said. "There are definitely lots of places to go, and we know generally where we would take it. Hopefully people will watch it and Netflix will order a sequel. They definitely are ready to. They just need people to watch it." Netflix has always been rather secretive about their viewing figures, but, whether audiences enjoy it or not, I can certainly see DEATH NOTE being a big draw, at least at first. Even though Adam Wingard has his fingers crossed for a sequel, he knows that they are never guaranteed.
We kept it open as a sequel. When I went to Netflix initially, I pitched it as at least a two-film series, maybe three, knowing this was the origin story. We definitely designed the film so it plays a closed loop. Sequels are never guaranteed. They have to be earned. On some level, I really love that the movie ends with all the characters damaged. It's such an unconventional ending for any kind of comic book film, and I really like that.
You can check out a review of DEATH NOTE from our own Eric Walkuski right here, but make sure to let us know your thoughts on the film as well. Did you enjoy DEATH NOTE and does it deserve a sequel?
The official synopsis for DEATH NOTE:
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.
DEATH NOTE is now playing on Netflix.