AnimeVice News

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:

1. It's not a legitimate script at all, so they're not worried about it.
2. It's an old draft, significantly different from the current version, so they're not worried about it.
3. 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.


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?