Adam Wingard’s ‘Death Note’ Adds ‘The Leftovers’ Star Margaret Qualley
After delivering two great genre features back to back with the subversive horror flick You’re Next and throwback thriller The Guest, director Adam Wingard definitely has our full attention, regardless of what he does next. His new project is Death Note, based on the popular Japanese manga, with The Leftovers star Margaret Qualley now in talks to join the cast of the U.S. adaptation.
Per Variety, Qualley is negotiating a role opposite Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) in Wingard’s adaptation of Death Note, the Japanese manga which already inspired a live-action movie (and sequel) in its home country. An American adaptation has been in the works at Warner Bros. for some time, with Shane Black previously attached to direct.
Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four) wrote the most recent draft of the Death Note screenplay, which stars Wolff as a young student who discovers a powerful, supernatural notebook which grants him the morbid ability to bring death to anyone whose name he writes in its pages. Sensing an opportunity to prevent terrible events from occurring, he writes out a list of people whom he believes are evil. Meanwhile, a detective investigating a mysterious string of deaths begins pursuing the student and the pair engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
Qualley currently stars on HBO’s The Leftovers as Jill Garvey, daughter of Justin Theroux’s Kevin, a troubled former cop. She also appears opposite Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, arriving next summer.
In addition to Death Note, Wingard directed the upcoming pilot episode of Cinemax’s Outcast series, based on the comic by Robert Kirkman. He’s also currently filming a new horror film titled The Woods, which re-teams him with You’re Next and The Guest writer Simon Barrett.