Death Note To Be Directed By Shane Black

The upcoming Death Note live-action film - the "made in Hollywood" one, that we've been hearing inconclusive stuff about for well over two years - has finally got itself a director: Shane Black, who made his helming debut with the 2005 movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and... umm... nothing else since. But he did do quite a bit of very well paid screenwriting in the late '80s and '90s, such as for the Lethal Weapon series.



Deadline broke this news, adding that Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry are writing the script for this new Death Note movie. As it happens, they're also working with Shane Black on his other current project, a drama flick titled Doc Savage. He hasn't decided yet which of the two he'll do first, although he sounds passionate enough about Death Note, from what he told Deadline.

"It's my favorite manga, I was just struck by its unique and brilliant sensibility", Black said. "What we want to do is take it back to that manga, and make it closer to what is so complex and truthful about the spirituality of the story, versus taking the concept and trying to copy it as an American thriller. [Warner Bros. president] Jeff Robinov and [producer] Greg Silverman liked that."

Well, at least that's one reason to be optimistic about this project. So now it's just hoping that Zac Efron won't actually be starring, as previously hinted.