Last we heard, Shane Black was all set to direct the long-gestating Doc Savage. The word on the street today though is that Black's next project may instead be **Death Note, based on the insanely popular twelve-volume manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
The comics centre on Japanese high school student Light Yagami, who comes across a handy notebook penned by the death god Ryuk, which allows its owner to kill anyone he pleases by writing their name in the book and picturing their face. Light decides to use his newfound power to rid the world of evil, and the series follows his progress, and that of the cops on his trail. Killing in the name of altruism is all very well, but the police still don’t like it much.
Death Note has sold tens of millions of copies in Japan, and has been no slouch in translation either; it’s flying off the spinners in your local book emporium as we speak (although it’s banned in China to “protect the physical and mental health” of its target audience). There have already been live-action and anime adaptations, but weirdly Warner Bros, who picked up the rights early last year, plan to have their Hollywood live-action version differ to those by actually being more faithful to the source material.
Lethal Weapon writer Black rose to fame (and indeed fortune) in the late 80s and early 90s, commanding seven-figure sums for screenplays like The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight. He wrote and directed the awesome Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in 2005, but hasn’t been quick to follow it up. Childhood favourite Doc Savage got his creative juices flowing though, and he has a similar enthusiasm for Death Note.
“It’s my favorite manga,” he says. “I was just struck by its unique and brilliant sensibility, and we want to keep 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.”
Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, also involved with Doc Savage, are writing the script with input from Black. Dan Lin (The Departed, Sherlock Holmes) is among the producers.
Any film that gets Black back behind the camera is fine with us, but we’re fascinated to see what the writer/director, known best for comedic action and crime thrillers, will do with a teen-oriented horror fantasy. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on this one. Meanwhile, let us know who you like for Light in the comments box below.