Although The Tracking Board has been rather hit and miss with its scoops, it’s reporting that Gus Van Sant has signed up to direct an adaptation of the Japanese manga Death Note. Back in 2011 Shane Black was set to helm, but he left quite a while ago and since then the movie version has been on the backburner.
However it does appear Van Sant will be working from a script by Black, Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry.
The project is based on the manga series written by Tsugumi Ôba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, which revolves around a college student named Light who finds a mysterious notebook that has the unique power to kill anyone whose name is written in it. When the student uses his newfound power to rid the streets of criminals, he is pursued by an FBI criminologist.
The manga series, which has sold over 38 million copies worldwide, has spawned a number of films and TV shows in Japan. It’s certainly a premise with some possibilities, and while it’s something rather different from what we’ve come to expect from Van Sant – who’s best known for the likes of Milk and Good Will Hunting – he could turn it into something interesting.
At the moment there’s no news on when the film might shoot.