This does not happen in the alleged script.
Let me give a bit of backstory on this article: about three weeks ago, an Anime Vice reader e-mailed me a PDF file that he claimed was a script for Lin Pictures'
live-action Death Note. Rather than run with the story then, I called Lin Pictures to see if they could confirm or deny whether the script was actually theirs or a fan-written phony. I was told I would get a call back, but never did. I tried calling back a second time earlier this week, this time passing on considerably more information, and still no call back.
As such, I have come to the conclusion that the company isn't overly concerned with the script, which suggests several possibilities to me:
- It's not a legitimate script at all, so they're not worried about it.
- It's an old draft, significantly different from the current version, so they're not worried about it.
- The script was intentionally leaked for promotional purposes or to gauge fan reaction.
There is also the possibility, of course, that the company simply hasn't been had time to decide what to do or get back to me. I think three weeks is a pretty fair shake, but let me say...this is entertainment, and I don't feel like it's my job to make entertainment creators' jobs any harder than necessary. That combined with the fact that regardless of who wrote it, the script in question is SOMEone's copyrighted material, means that I'm not going to post the full script here. If you want it, I know there are a couple of other sites that have already posted it, so you'll have to find it for yourself.
I will, however, go into great detail from having read the script myself. Suffice it to say, there are many significant changes-- mostly ones that don't bother me at all (no Misa! Yay!), but there are a couple of big ones.
The film revolves around Luke Murray, a motherless college student and consummate "good guy." He is motivated not by boredom and self-righteous disgust at the people around him, but because his mother was gunned down in a robbery years before.
Ryuk is not a character in the film, although it's made very clear that the use of the Death Note takes a sinister toll on Luke-- and here is my biggest complaint: it also posits that the Death Note itself is responsible for driving Luke's rage. This is the biggest change and the only one I really detest, and it's because it completely changes the nature of the original character of Light Yagami. Light was a bored, super-intelligent young man who felt that the people around him were all morons, like rats next to his godliness. It was this ego that drove him to feel that he could rule the world, and he uses the Death Note in a manner completely differently than anyone else who ever acquired one-- which is a very, very important distinction, I feel.
That said, there is a fair amount of faithfulness in terms of the plot's actual main events, down to some very specific details-- the memory-erasing trick, the bus episode, even the infamous bag-of-chips scene. And of course both Watari and L appear-- but virtually no description of L is given, so it's unclear how similar he will be to his original self. Based on his dialogue it could go either way...
...But the ending is very, very different. Rather than ever getting caught by anyone, Luke gives up the Death Note in order to arrange a final tying up of loose ends to prove his innocence to L and his father, and the plan requires him to not know about the book. He leaves himself a video message showing him how to get the book back-- but having come to his senses without it, he chooses not to pick it back up again.
And he gets back to his regular life.
Now, I'm open to the idea that there COULD be a really good Hollywood Death Note movie, but if this is in fact a legitimate script: taken on its own, it's a halfway-decent (if slightly moralistic) script for a young teen-oriented drama, but as an adaptation of Death Note, it misses the mark.
But let me reiterate again before people start flailing and freaking out: we have NO confirmation that this is a legitimate or current script, so consider this post to be as much "for the lulz" as anything. Take it with a grain of salt.
That said...let's say you were in charge of a Death Note movie. You have to make it accessible to your average American movie-goer, and aim it probably at the 13-18 crowd primarily, but you want to keep the pre-existing fanbase happy, too.
How would you do it?
Please let this not be true.
No offense to anyone of the Murray clan named Luke. But A) I think of Luke Cage and Bill Murray
B) The name just sounds like a random generator tried to come up with non-smith, but totally american name #5
Light Yagami might as well be renamed Bobby Everyperson
One of the most interesting things about the story is Ryuk and Light's relationship with him. But I can see how a Japanese death spirit would be hard to explain if the rest of the story is westernized. Still, they could have made him a demon of sorts.
So these writers think the name Light is too hard for our ignorant English thinking minds to handle, huh? Does L now become A? I mean look how difficult that is to grasp. The letter L is the twelfth letter in the alphabet. There aren't enough fingers to count that high. (sarcasm)
Serious Now
I agree with your analysis on that change to the Light character. Makes it more seem that the book changed a good person rather then the power of the book corrupting an already twisted mind.Is it any weirder then the idea that writing a name in a book will kill someone? This is the country where celebrities are naming their children after produce.
I imagined they would still call him L. For that part you kind of have to imagine me speaking that in my utterly worst impression of a hick accent.
I also made a second video tribute to the whole death note thing:
Sure-- people accept weird plots. But a name like "Light" would seem awfully blatant here, where it's a slightly more subtle reference in Japan. ;)
"Luke" is probably supposed to be a reference to Lucifer, I'd guess.
...and no Ryuk? fucking garbage.
People accept names like Logan, Wolervine,Ororo. Prior to X-Men, I doubt many people even knew that a Wolverine is a real animal.
Light itself is an English word. This is a culture that also accepts the constant self-renaming of Sean Comb as Puffy Daddy, to P. Diddy, to simpley Diddy, to whatever it is now. Another singer is called Lady Ga Ga.
But in the manga it wasn't like Light was predisposed to be a killer. You'll remember that after he let go of the Death Note he legitimately wanted to help L find Kira.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g3rwun
I reuploaded it
http://www.sendspace.com/file/o9fgwm
@AgentJ: That only shows that his finding of the death note impacted his character's development-- NOT that the book itself had a direct effect on his mental stability.
@S3N4HU3: I meant to say this earlier, but that is awesome. You might be my new favorite. :D
Which I'll make someday when I have some spare time. ;)
@kdmccaskill: We clearly have different versions of proof-- a) how do you know Warner Bros. had it taken down? b) Might they not try to have something taken down that is being passed off as their work that is not?
I'm not saying the script IS a fake, only that the removal of a file hardly proves that it's legit.
http://electricpulp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/seal-1.gif
Understand that I do see where you are coming from. I say this, because I'm getting the impression that my tone might be coming across as rude rather then the respectful tone I intend. Tone doesn't translate well via text.
The name Light is hardly a common Japanese name either. Far as I know, not a single Japanese person has ever had that name. Though you never know what some otaku's will do. I read a story recently where a guy on Facebook is planning to name his child literally "Batman". I could see an American audience accept the name Light for a movie. That reminded me of a story about this couple that were only speaking Klingon in front of their new born child so he would grow up with that as his basic language. I heard a Judge stepped into the middle of that.
You still get symbolism naming the character after a biblical figure. Not as heavy handed, I agree. As a writer you are expecting people to believe writing a name in a book could somehow take a life. Light isn't that much further.
As someone who read Death Note and enjoyed the anime (side note: that was one of the very few times I think I enjoyed the dub more then the original Japanese dialog). I hear this kind of story and it has L, but not Light. I get it into my head that this is just a simple Kira wannabe. Such as the one Near dealt with in that final Death Note book. The guy that was killing the sick, but took his own life.
@Dream:
I think you really miss some of the layer trying to turn this series into a movie. One of the most interesting aspects of the story was that both L and Light knew who each other were. L lacked the proof he needed and Light lacked L's real name. It was very much a batle of wills as they danced around each other as if they were friends. All the time testing and prodding each other. I loved that moment where Light thought he had won when Misa saw L's real name and tried to call her, but L had lifted her phone.
Without that tension it's just another suspense drama of a detective trying to stop a serial killer, but with a supernatural twist.