Worried About 2011 Death Note Film

I heard they're Americanizing it.

(Hoping that it won't bomb like the Dragon Ball film with its own Americanization).

Here's hoping for Samuel L Jackson as L. That's just about the only thing that could get me to go see a Death Note movie.

I think Death Note is very suited for Americanization in the first place.

I just hope they don't make Zac Efron Light. Yes, he looks just like him, but he doesn't have the acting ability to pull it off.

^^I dunno. Isn't Japan's lack of guns pretty important at points?

Here's hoping for Samuel L Jackson as L.

That would put me off it, forever.

^^ Points that are easily removed or changed. A film adaptation has no obligation to follow the script exactly, American or not, and is probably better off not doing so.

edited 20th Dec '10 2:42:37 PM by Clarste

Samuel L. Jackson as L

This would get me in that theater and I'm not even a fan of Death Note.

I think they already cast Light, and it's not Zac Efron (thank goodness). I do remember seeing a poster somewhere...

...And I think they already cast Misa, which scares me because that means they're going to do 4+ volumes in two hours.

Wow, so many posts.

Why am I typing like a teenage girl?

They're not doing 4+ volumes, they're making a movie. It'll probably have an ending, and possibly even a sequel hook. The idea that it would at all resemble a panel-by-panel adaptation, which has already popped up twice in this thread, terrifies me in terms of what people's expectations are.

A good movie doesn't need to be a panel-by-panel, or even a volume-by-volume adaptation. The Japanese movies weren't particularly faithful, yet a decent number of people consider them better than the original for sticking closer to the main themes.

^^Also, where exactly are you getting that information from? I can only find stuff from 2008/2009 that says nothing about casting except Zac Efron. Nothing from this year and 2010 is almost over.

What I'm worried about is the Americanization part. I seen many adaptions (The Golden Compass, Inkheart) that strayed and crashed because of the changes that went wrong. As long as the film include all the good parts (they better have Soichiro drive that police van into the building, or else!), I'm happy. It's that four volumes within one film is a little scary, because Rayne Penber and Naomi may get demoted, the tennis scene may go bye-bye, although the gasoline scene could go.

Minor characters are most likely to be rolled into existing characters. It's just more efficient that way.

^^The author considered putting Naomi in so early a mistake anyway. I wouldn't mind her being excluded, but leaving Raye out would be bad.

What would happen if Zac Efron was cast and (against all odds) he was actually good?

Nothing in particular. We'd have a good actor playing the character.

That's kind of my issue with Samuel L Jackson as L. I understand it's an entertaining meme, but he's so distant from L that I can't see how he'd do a good job of it. If he turned out to be good, then it'd be okay.

Also, Chihuahua, link please?

edited 20th Dec '10 3:20:06 PM by elemcee

Samuel L Jackson would be better as Watari. Although I guess the point of Watari's appearance is that you'd expect him to look more like SLJ, rather than an old guy.

To be honest, I can't think of a Hollywood actor I'd want to play L. Out of the really big stars, there's maybe Johnny Depp who I think would do a good job.

And, yeah, I think he'd make a good Watari.

edited 20th Dec '10 3:27:49 PM by elemcee

If it were up to me, I'd play it as 'another tale of the Death Note'. Maybe referencing the manga events briefly in a way that could please the manga fans without alienating everyone else.

But really, all you need is the Note falling into someone else's hands and a good plot to develop from there.

If Effron is cast as Light, I'd still watch it. The guy can act. He's done a lot of stuff since the High School Musical films.

I nominate Elijah Wood's eyes as L's eyes.

Beyond that I have no idea. But I guess that's kind of useless unless you've got someone to play the rest of L.

No, I think Light's crusade is pretty central to the themes. Not the so-called moral ambiguity so much as the systematic, organized nature of it. If it was a small time crook who just killed his enemies and the cops chasing him or whatever it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.

edited 20th Dec '10 3:38:52 PM by Clarste

You could have another protagonist who is just as complex as Light, although it could be hard to squeeze that much into a movie. Although it could get us started on a tangent about if Light was really that complex to begin with...

But only a small sub-section of the people who would go and see it in America/Europe would be aware of the manga/anime (at least to the point of having actually read it/watched it), so they'd have to establish Light, anyway. A completely original cast would give them free reign, as well.