We got the chance to sit down and talk with Greg Russo, the screenwriter for the upcoming ‘Mortal Kombat’, ‘Death Note’ sequel and ‘Resident Evil’ reboot films and had the opportunity to do a lengthy interview with the incredible screenwriter, in the first part of our interview, we discuss him taking on the screenplay for the ‘Death Note’ sequel for Netflix and what his thoughts are on the ‘Death Note’ franchise.
INTERVIEWER: Beginning the interview, you’ve been hired to write the screenplay for the upcoming ‘Death Note’ sequel, were you a fan of the original anime or manga?
GREG RUSSO: It’s interesting because when the project was first came to me, I knew conceptually what the story of Death Note was about but I hadn’t read anything or seen anything so when the project came to me as a potential job, I started researching it myself and I took a look at the manga, a huge book it’s got about 204 pages, so I decided to begin reading through it and I fell in love with it. I then seen the first film that Netflix put out and could see ways to capture what I loved about the manga.
INTERVIEWER: The thing I like about Death Note is that it’s a universal concept, you could put it in anything, you don’t exactly have to follow the manga, anyone could end up with the book, I honestly think that’s the genius of it. To be honest the issue I had with the first ‘Death Note’ film on Netflix was that it was trying to adapt the manga where instead I think it should’ve done its own thing with the book.
GREG RUSSO: Yeah, I mean there’s definitely a number of ways you can go when adapting a piece of property, I do think there’s really wonderful things in that manga, there’s great characters to kind of work with, everyone is going to put their unique spin on that so you’ll never see the exact same. For me, those characters are so intergal to the story that I couldn’t see them not intertwined with an adaption.
INTERVIEWER: Yea, so what’s the current status of that film and it’s screenplay?
GREG RUSSO: Writing it now, taking some time establishing and developing each character.
INTERVIEWER: Plus it’s not a conventional story where you can tell it from A to B to C.
GREG RUSSO: Exactly, everyone’s going to play everyone so it’s a elaborate chess match with the characters but it’s a lot of fun to write.
The second part of this interview will be officially released soon and will focus on the ‘Resident Evil’ reboot.
