Death Note

The wildly popular manga series Death Note doesn’t have only one movie, not two, but three movies out already. And that’s with the series being only 5 years old, created back in 2003. The manga was so popular, that the first live action movie was made even before an anime version was thought of, making this a very special series.

On May 20th and 21st 2008, the first Death Note movie was shown in select theaters across the US. Canada will also follow suit on September 15th. The DVD for the movie will be released on August 29, 2008.

On June 9th, 2008 it was revealed that VIZ Pictures is planning to create a remake of the Death Note movies with an American cast. Vertigo Entertainment will be responsible for the adaptation. They ahve adapted other Japanese movies such as The Grudge and Shutter. Vlas and Charles Parlapanides are to be penning the script.

Below are short synopses of both Death Note movies, as well as the spin-off movie, L: Change the WorLd, and the cast list for the movies.

Death Note (1)

The first movie pretty much follows the same story line as the manga, except it begins with Light already at University and he flashes back to when he first received the Death Note. The movie ends after Light meets L for the first time. One interesting note would be that Ryuk and the Shinigami were done fully in CGI.

Death Note: The Last Name

In the second film, the plot beings to heavily deviate from that of the original manga. Light does finally meet Misa, but in the movie there is no time skip meaning lots of other chracters get left out, such as Mello and Near. The ending is very different from the manga as well.

L: Change the WorLd

This movie is a totally original spin-off of the film series and is pretty much a stand alone installment as it gives no real insights to the plot of the previous two movies. It revolves around L solving a case during the twenty days before his death where he must solve the mystery of a virus that wiped out an entire village and threatens to infect the entire world. The characters of MIsa Amane and Watari also make brief cameos in the film.