I have just been chatting with one of my internet friends on IMDB about the very popular anime/manga series "Death Note." I trust that most people on here know what this series is and are probably fans of it.
The conversation between me and IMDB guy eventually got to the new Hollywood adaptation of Death Note. Turns out, this guy has the script for it and was kind enough to give it to me. (well, a link to it. Don't have it anymore though. Its in my computer on word processor)
He told me he was absolutely horrified (yes, horrified) by this awful script.
Naturally, I thought he was just over reacting and I read it myself.
He wasn't joking. He wasn't overreacting.
This script is terrible.
Here is a quick (sorta, compared to the actual script at least) summary of the script. I'll put it in spoilers since it's pretty long.
[spoiler/]Character names:
Luke Murray - Light Yagami
Sophia (Luke's girlfriend) - I guess there's no Japanese counterpart for her
Sarah Murray (Luke's sister) - Sayu Yagami
Captain John Murray - Soichiro Yagami
Watari and L remain the same.
Summary:
The script opens with Luke being woken by his cellphone. He changes while he bolts out of the room as he's gonna be late for class. On the way to school, he saves a woman's life on the subway. A thief stole her purse and she fell on the tracks. This event causes Luke to miss his class completely. Once at school, he meets Sophia, his girlfriend. Luke gives her his mother's ring, which he's been saving for the girl he will marry. After that he goes to work (packing stuff at a fish market) and then to the cemetery to visit his mother's grave. As he makes his way out, he comes across the death note. Like in the anime, he first shrugs it off as a joke but then returns for it. Back home, Captain John Murray has just received his son's SAT scores. Turns out he's 99th percentile or something to that degree. Later that night, Luke sits in his room watching the news. A criminal has taken a family hostage and Luke writes his name in the death note as a joke. Luke goes to the bathroom and doesn't realize that the criminal has dropped dead and the family has been saved. The next day, Luke hangs around with Sophia before class. Here, Luke reads in the paper that the criminal who took the family hostage the past night died. Later that day, he begins wondering if he had anything to do with it by writing the criminal's name on the death note. There's only one way to know, he's going to test it. He starts reading the death note's rules (same as the anime,) turns on the TV and finds a criminal who has just escaped police custody. Luke writes his name and the criminal dies. The death note is real.
The police then come to visit Luke because the mayor wants to give him a medal for saving the lady in the subway. After some thinking, Luke speaks to his father. He wants to see the case file of his mom's murder (she died during a store robbery and Luke was with her when he was little,) but his dad refuses to let him see it. Luke goes against his father's orders and goes to the police station to take a look at the case file. His father catches him looking at the files. Luke asks him if he believes that the main suspect (some guy with a Latino name, can't remember) committed the murder. Captain Murray is not sure and he says he did everything he could to find his wife's murderer. A police officer bursts in and informs Captain Murray that they are in pursuit of two home invaders. As the criminals hole up in a building, Luke usees the death note to kill them. At the morgue, the coroner informs Captain Murray that the two criminals' death was not something natural.
The next day, Luke hacks into the NYPD's database and looks up the name of his mom's possible murderer along with his known accomplices. Luke calls the accomplices (they're brothers) and proves to one of them that he is the one behind the mysterious killings by murdering one of them with the death note. He asks for the whereabouts of his mom's murderer but the criminal doesn't know what happened to him. However, Luke finds out what happened to the gun that killed his mother -- it's in a pawn shop.
The cops are the coroner's office once again. They found the body of the man Luke just killed with the death note. The coroner is baffled as to how he died since there is no way both of the victims could have died from a heart attack. Captain Murray calls for an official investigation. Back at the police station, Captain Murray finds Watari waiting for them. L wants to help with the investigation. He introduces himself like in the anime through a laptop and explains to the cops that it's cons who are being specifically targeted. Meanwhile, Luke is trying to track down the gun by calling a pawn shop. During class, the professor is explaining how crime has declined and that it might be connected to the mysterious deaths that have been occurring. Luke is now convinced more than ever that he has to go on killing people to bring justice to the world. He sends an e-mail to the New York Times in which he refers to himself as Kira (apparently the name was inspired by a manga he found) and claims that he is killing to rid the world of injustice. He also lists five more criminals he will kill to prove he is serious. The criminals all die as Luke continues to look for the pawn shop where the gun might be. People start cheering when they hear about Kira taking out criminals. At the police station, L has figured out that all the killings were done by one man and rules out the possibility of a conspiracy. He also mentions that he has a way of backing up his theory.
Luke finds the pawn shop where the gun is, but it turns out it was sold to the Jersey PD. He then calls the Jersey PD to make an anonymous tip. That night, Luke is watching the news cast. This is a recreation of the anime where a fake L is killed in order to narrow down the search for Kira. The broadcast was only shown in New York so Kira is definitely there. Luke then notices a Japanese character engraved in the death note. The next day he asks a friend of his the meaning of the character -- shinigami. That afternoon, his father receives a call from the Jersey PD, they might have found his wife's murder weapon and they need to confirm the ballistics. L has also figured out that the killings have a pattern, the killer is on a schedule and he believes it might be a college student. Captain Murray returns home, he wants to talk to Luke. He tries to convince him to go to law school but Luke refuses because it was a lawyer who let his mom's killer go free. Captain Murray then mentions that the main suspect in his wife's murder couldn't have done it because the bullets don't match the gun. He and his dad get into an argument about letting go of his mom. On his way to work, Luke calls the criminal who tipped him on the gun. He is mad that he lied and that the ballistics don't match but the criminal mentions that the owner of the gun used to do something to the barrel of the gun to make it untraceable.
When he returns home from work, Luke finds his dad asleep and then he adresses an envelope with a calling card to his mom's alleged killer. At the police station, the criminal who has been giving information to Kira about his accomplice's gun asks to speak to a detective. Later, Luke is at the library researching the word shinigami. He starts playing around with the death note's rules, specifically the one that mentions that if he renounces ownership of it his memories of the death note will be lost. However, if a previous owner of the death note recovers it, his memories will be restored. As he makes his way back home, Luke notices he is being followed by someone. Back home, Sophia arrives to hang out with Luke, but he says he can't at the moment.
The Kira taskforce start receiving news of criminals in prisons killing themselves after doing strange things, such as drawing pentagrams with their own blood. Sophia starts noticing that something weird is going on with Luke but he maintains that he is fine. Following this, the two get into a bus and a scene recreating the part of the anime where Light finds out he's being followed by the FBI happens. Now that Luke knows who's been following him, he starts planning something. At the taskforce, the criminal is being interviewed by L. He mentions that he has told him everything he knows. Luke then receives a phone call from the man who murdered his mom. He starts killing other criminals who are locked in with him and Luke wants him to admit that he murdered his mom before killing him. The killer claims that he didn't do it but Luke tells him his partner ratted him out. The killer admits he did it and begs for mercy, but Luke kills him anyway. After receiving the news of the recently murdered killer, Watari informs the detectives that L wants to see them.
Luke realizes that the death note is turning him into something evil and decides to get rid of it, but he notices that his room's door has been opened while he was away. The FBI has installed cameras and microphones all over the place. Now Luke can't get rid of the death note because it will look suspicious if he takes it out of his secret spot. In a hotel room, L meets the Kira taskforce and Captain Murray notices that L is watching his son. L tells Captain Murray that Luke must be Kira because his mom's murderer was just killed and most likely Luke did it for revenge. When Captain Murray comes home, he tells Luke that they confirmed who his mom's killer was and that Luke can tell him anything, no matter what. Meanwhile, the killer's partner finds out about Luke by looking at the article of his mom's murder. Luke buys a device to confirm that his room has been bugged. He then receives a call from his mom's killer partner. By listening to his voice, he knows it was Luke who murdered his brother. That night, the Kira taskforce and L are surveiling Luke while he studies. This scene is a recreation of the anime where Light studies while eating potato chips and kills criminals by listening to a small tv hidden in the chips bag. L has no choice but to remove all the surveilance equipment from Luke's room since it's not possible he killed all the criminals that night.
The next day, Luke renounces ownership of the death note. The killer's partner is not happy that L has ruled out Luke as a suspect in the Kira case and tells him he'll prove that Luke is in fact Kira. Luke receives a phone call from Sophia who tells him to meet her at the library. She is being held at gunpoint by the partner. L is watching the library's security feed and asks Watari to run the lie detection program. Captain Murray joins L. When Luke arrives, the partner holds Sophia at gunpoint and tells him to admit he is Kira. L and the taskforce watch as Luke claims he is not Kira. They release that Luke is telling the truth and send cops to save them. The partner shoots Sophia but Luke dives in front of her, taking the shot. The partner realizes he was wrong and the cops arrive to arrest him but he shoots himself in the head.
Luke wakes up in the hospital days later. Everyone is relieved he is fine and they prepare to take him home. Luke then takes his personal items, turns on his cellphone and he notices that he has a video message from himself. The message explains that he is Kira and that he tried to get rid of the death note by burning it, but it couldn't be destroyed. In order to get rid of all suspicion of himself, Luke orchestrated the whole situation with Sophia and the partner by writing it on the death note, then he gave up the death note so he could convincingly deny any knowledge of himself being Kira. The message further explains that he hid the death note in an abandoned cemetery. Luke is taken aback by this realization and he throws his cellphone against the wall. Then, L enters the room. Luke asks if he knows him. L replies no, but I know you.
[/spoiler]
Well? It was bad right?
I know it sounds so bad that it just has to be fake, but I'm sorry, its not.
I think I've lost all faith in movies if this is all they can come up with. I would be perfectly happy if they just did a straight up frame by frame remake of the anime. They've almost completely changed the story!! The name's made since to the characters, why change them to genaric American names?
Why does Hollywood always have to do this? They take something great and Americanize it into total bullshit.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on this script and Hollywood and the film industry in general?
The conversation between me and IMDB guy eventually got to the new Hollywood adaptation of Death Note. Turns out, this guy has the script for it and was kind enough to give it to me. (well, a link to it. Don't have it anymore though. Its in my computer on word processor)
He told me he was absolutely horrified (yes, horrified) by this awful script.
Naturally, I thought he was just over reacting and I read it myself.
He wasn't joking. He wasn't overreacting.
This script is terrible.
Here is a quick (sorta, compared to the actual script at least) summary of the script. I'll put it in spoilers since it's pretty long.
[spoiler/]Character names:
Luke Murray - Light Yagami
Sophia (Luke's girlfriend) - I guess there's no Japanese counterpart for her
Sarah Murray (Luke's sister) - Sayu Yagami
Captain John Murray - Soichiro Yagami
Watari and L remain the same.
Summary:
The script opens with Luke being woken by his cellphone. He changes while he bolts out of the room as he's gonna be late for class. On the way to school, he saves a woman's life on the subway. A thief stole her purse and she fell on the tracks. This event causes Luke to miss his class completely. Once at school, he meets Sophia, his girlfriend. Luke gives her his mother's ring, which he's been saving for the girl he will marry. After that he goes to work (packing stuff at a fish market) and then to the cemetery to visit his mother's grave. As he makes his way out, he comes across the death note. Like in the anime, he first shrugs it off as a joke but then returns for it. Back home, Captain John Murray has just received his son's SAT scores. Turns out he's 99th percentile or something to that degree. Later that night, Luke sits in his room watching the news. A criminal has taken a family hostage and Luke writes his name in the death note as a joke. Luke goes to the bathroom and doesn't realize that the criminal has dropped dead and the family has been saved. The next day, Luke hangs around with Sophia before class. Here, Luke reads in the paper that the criminal who took the family hostage the past night died. Later that day, he begins wondering if he had anything to do with it by writing the criminal's name on the death note. There's only one way to know, he's going to test it. He starts reading the death note's rules (same as the anime,) turns on the TV and finds a criminal who has just escaped police custody. Luke writes his name and the criminal dies. The death note is real.
The police then come to visit Luke because the mayor wants to give him a medal for saving the lady in the subway. After some thinking, Luke speaks to his father. He wants to see the case file of his mom's murder (she died during a store robbery and Luke was with her when he was little,) but his dad refuses to let him see it. Luke goes against his father's orders and goes to the police station to take a look at the case file. His father catches him looking at the files. Luke asks him if he believes that the main suspect (some guy with a Latino name, can't remember) committed the murder. Captain Murray is not sure and he says he did everything he could to find his wife's murderer. A police officer bursts in and informs Captain Murray that they are in pursuit of two home invaders. As the criminals hole up in a building, Luke usees the death note to kill them. At the morgue, the coroner informs Captain Murray that the two criminals' death was not something natural.
The next day, Luke hacks into the NYPD's database and looks up the name of his mom's possible murderer along with his known accomplices. Luke calls the accomplices (they're brothers) and proves to one of them that he is the one behind the mysterious killings by murdering one of them with the death note. He asks for the whereabouts of his mom's murderer but the criminal doesn't know what happened to him. However, Luke finds out what happened to the gun that killed his mother -- it's in a pawn shop.
The cops are the coroner's office once again. They found the body of the man Luke just killed with the death note. The coroner is baffled as to how he died since there is no way both of the victims could have died from a heart attack. Captain Murray calls for an official investigation. Back at the police station, Captain Murray finds Watari waiting for them. L wants to help with the investigation. He introduces himself like in the anime through a laptop and explains to the cops that it's cons who are being specifically targeted. Meanwhile, Luke is trying to track down the gun by calling a pawn shop. During class, the professor is explaining how crime has declined and that it might be connected to the mysterious deaths that have been occurring. Luke is now convinced more than ever that he has to go on killing people to bring justice to the world. He sends an e-mail to the New York Times in which he refers to himself as Kira (apparently the name was inspired by a manga he found) and claims that he is killing to rid the world of injustice. He also lists five more criminals he will kill to prove he is serious. The criminals all die as Luke continues to look for the pawn shop where the gun might be. People start cheering when they hear about Kira taking out criminals. At the police station, L has figured out that all the killings were done by one man and rules out the possibility of a conspiracy. He also mentions that he has a way of backing up his theory.
Luke finds the pawn shop where the gun is, but it turns out it was sold to the Jersey PD. He then calls the Jersey PD to make an anonymous tip. That night, Luke is watching the news cast. This is a recreation of the anime where a fake L is killed in order to narrow down the search for Kira. The broadcast was only shown in New York so Kira is definitely there. Luke then notices a Japanese character engraved in the death note. The next day he asks a friend of his the meaning of the character -- shinigami. That afternoon, his father receives a call from the Jersey PD, they might have found his wife's murder weapon and they need to confirm the ballistics. L has also figured out that the killings have a pattern, the killer is on a schedule and he believes it might be a college student. Captain Murray returns home, he wants to talk to Luke. He tries to convince him to go to law school but Luke refuses because it was a lawyer who let his mom's killer go free. Captain Murray then mentions that the main suspect in his wife's murder couldn't have done it because the bullets don't match the gun. He and his dad get into an argument about letting go of his mom. On his way to work, Luke calls the criminal who tipped him on the gun. He is mad that he lied and that the ballistics don't match but the criminal mentions that the owner of the gun used to do something to the barrel of the gun to make it untraceable.
When he returns home from work, Luke finds his dad asleep and then he adresses an envelope with a calling card to his mom's alleged killer. At the police station, the criminal who has been giving information to Kira about his accomplice's gun asks to speak to a detective. Later, Luke is at the library researching the word shinigami. He starts playing around with the death note's rules, specifically the one that mentions that if he renounces ownership of it his memories of the death note will be lost. However, if a previous owner of the death note recovers it, his memories will be restored. As he makes his way back home, Luke notices he is being followed by someone. Back home, Sophia arrives to hang out with Luke, but he says he can't at the moment.
The Kira taskforce start receiving news of criminals in prisons killing themselves after doing strange things, such as drawing pentagrams with their own blood. Sophia starts noticing that something weird is going on with Luke but he maintains that he is fine. Following this, the two get into a bus and a scene recreating the part of the anime where Light finds out he's being followed by the FBI happens. Now that Luke knows who's been following him, he starts planning something. At the taskforce, the criminal is being interviewed by L. He mentions that he has told him everything he knows. Luke then receives a phone call from the man who murdered his mom. He starts killing other criminals who are locked in with him and Luke wants him to admit that he murdered his mom before killing him. The killer claims that he didn't do it but Luke tells him his partner ratted him out. The killer admits he did it and begs for mercy, but Luke kills him anyway. After receiving the news of the recently murdered killer, Watari informs the detectives that L wants to see them.
Luke realizes that the death note is turning him into something evil and decides to get rid of it, but he notices that his room's door has been opened while he was away. The FBI has installed cameras and microphones all over the place. Now Luke can't get rid of the death note because it will look suspicious if he takes it out of his secret spot. In a hotel room, L meets the Kira taskforce and Captain Murray notices that L is watching his son. L tells Captain Murray that Luke must be Kira because his mom's murderer was just killed and most likely Luke did it for revenge. When Captain Murray comes home, he tells Luke that they confirmed who his mom's killer was and that Luke can tell him anything, no matter what. Meanwhile, the killer's partner finds out about Luke by looking at the article of his mom's murder. Luke buys a device to confirm that his room has been bugged. He then receives a call from his mom's killer partner. By listening to his voice, he knows it was Luke who murdered his brother. That night, the Kira taskforce and L are surveiling Luke while he studies. This scene is a recreation of the anime where Light studies while eating potato chips and kills criminals by listening to a small tv hidden in the chips bag. L has no choice but to remove all the surveilance equipment from Luke's room since it's not possible he killed all the criminals that night.
The next day, Luke renounces ownership of the death note. The killer's partner is not happy that L has ruled out Luke as a suspect in the Kira case and tells him he'll prove that Luke is in fact Kira. Luke receives a phone call from Sophia who tells him to meet her at the library. She is being held at gunpoint by the partner. L is watching the library's security feed and asks Watari to run the lie detection program. Captain Murray joins L. When Luke arrives, the partner holds Sophia at gunpoint and tells him to admit he is Kira. L and the taskforce watch as Luke claims he is not Kira. They release that Luke is telling the truth and send cops to save them. The partner shoots Sophia but Luke dives in front of her, taking the shot. The partner realizes he was wrong and the cops arrive to arrest him but he shoots himself in the head.
Luke wakes up in the hospital days later. Everyone is relieved he is fine and they prepare to take him home. Luke then takes his personal items, turns on his cellphone and he notices that he has a video message from himself. The message explains that he is Kira and that he tried to get rid of the death note by burning it, but it couldn't be destroyed. In order to get rid of all suspicion of himself, Luke orchestrated the whole situation with Sophia and the partner by writing it on the death note, then he gave up the death note so he could convincingly deny any knowledge of himself being Kira. The message further explains that he hid the death note in an abandoned cemetery. Luke is taken aback by this realization and he throws his cellphone against the wall. Then, L enters the room. Luke asks if he knows him. L replies no, but I know you.
[/spoiler]
Well? It was bad right?
I know it sounds so bad that it just has to be fake, but I'm sorry, its not.
I think I've lost all faith in movies if this is all they can come up with. I would be perfectly happy if they just did a straight up frame by frame remake of the anime. They've almost completely changed the story!! The name's made since to the characters, why change them to genaric American names?
Why does Hollywood always have to do this? They take something great and Americanize it into total bullshit.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on this script and Hollywood and the film industry in general?
![[Kira Must Die]](https://eg-forums-escapist-data.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/data/avatars/l/68/68539.jpg?1620622912){kind=avatar}
