A brand new trailer for Netflix’s remake of Death Note has arrived, and if you’ve been missing Willem Dafoe on full on creepy as hell mode, then you’re in for a treat.
We already know that Adam Wingard’s remake won’t be a direct adaptation of the original film or the manga created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Much like Martin Scorsese’s take on Infernal Affairs (The Departed), Death Note is using the source material as a jumping-off point. Naturally, Wingard’s approach won’t please all Death Note fans, but there’s no denying that Willem Dafoe voicing Death God Ryuk is ruddy terrifying.
I’m a big fan of Wingard, The Guest and You’re Next were jam-packed with invention and style, and even if his Blair Witch sequel was messy, I give him full credit for making the project in secret. Wingard was recently snapped up to direct his first big studio movie with the monster of all grudge matches Godzilla vs. Kong. While I’m intrigued by the prospect of Wingard taking on a big summer movie, I’m sad we won’t be seeing any original projects from him for the foreseeable future. It remains unclear if his Godzilla vs. Kong duties will delay his remake of Kim Jee-Woon’s I Saw the Devil.
Death Note will be available to stream on Netflix on August 25.
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.