Adam Wingard's anticipated live-action adaptation of popular Japanese manga series Death Note has been dropped from Warner Bros. release schedule and picked up by Netflix.
According to The Wrap, although the film has been in production for quite some time, the studio got cold feet over the possible lack of reception from audiences and decided to not pursue it. The report added that since Wingard had been working on it for quite some time, however, Warner Bros. allowed him to take the project elsewhere. Within 48 hours of being dropped by Warner Bros., Wingard was allegedly approached by nearly every major studio.
It's unclear if Netflix is going to bring the film to theaters as well as the streaming service, like it did with Idris Elba's award-winning Beasts of No Nation, but the film will be an exclusive title for the company. Starring Nat Wolff as Light, Death Note follows a high school student after he discovers a journal that allows him to kill off whomever he wishes simply by writing their name down. Theoretically, the deaths shouldn't lead back to him as there's no trace of evidence left at the scene, but an investigator named L begins to sniff out a pattern not too long after the deaths of criminals around Tokyo start, leading to a game of cat and mouse between the two characters.
The news comes just one day after rumors started floating around that Warner Bros. was looking to condense its release schedule after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice turned out to be a disappointment with critics. Top executives at the studio were flabbergasted that reaction to the film had been overwhelmingly negative and were worried about future releases.
There's no estimated release date for Death Note, but the film is still currently in production.