One more falls to the lure of the Death Note.
Earlier today, entertainment news source Deadline reported that Shea Whigham joined the cast of Netflix’s Death Note film. As of press time, Whigham’s specific role is unknown.
Shea Whigham is best known for his role as Elias “Eli” Thompson in Boardwalk Empire. Whigham made his debut in a 1997 episode of Ghost Stories, before appearing in 2000 film Tigerland. Since then, he’s gone on to work in numerous high-profile projects, including Lords of Dogtown, Man of the House, and Japanese film Out of This World. Most recently, Whigham was cast in Star Trek Beyond and HBO comedy series Vice Principals.
Netflix’s Death Note film will hit Netflix in 2017.
In May, we reported that Netflix was in final negotiations for the film, which is expected to have a $40 million to $50 million budget. Production is reportedly slated to start later this month.
The project, which was previously in development at Warner Brothers, is being helmed by Adam Wingard (The Guest), with Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four) penning the script. Roy Lee (Vertigo Entertainment), Dan Lin (Lin Pictures), Jason Hoffs (Viz Productions), and Masi Oka (Heroes, Hawaii Five-0) are attached to the project as producers. Doug Davidson (The Grudge) and Brian Witten (Final Destination) will serve as executive producers.
The confirmed cast includes:
- Light Turner: Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars)
- L: Keith Stanfield (Straight Outta Compton, The Purge: Anarchy)
- Mia Sutton: Margaret Qualley (Palo Alto, The Leftovers)
- Watari: Paul Nakauchi (Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
- James Turner: Shea Whigham (The Wolf of Wall Street, Boardwalk Empire)
Variety describes Light character as “a student who discovers a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone simply by writing the victim’s name.” Wolff will square off against a “reclusive police officer” in the film.
Last week, YVRShoots captured several photos from the film’s set in Vancouver, British Colombia.
Viz Media currently holds the domestic rights to the Death Note anime, as well as Takeshi Obata’s original manga series. The company released the anime series on Blu-Ray in March. The series is available for streaming on Netflix and Hulu.
Source: Deadline
