Gus Van Sant has signed on to direct an adaptation of the Japanese manga Death Note, which has been languishing in development at Warner Bros. for several years now.

Back in January 2011, Shane Black signed on to direct from a script by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, but we never heard anything else about the project until now. The Tracking Board reports that the most recent script was written by Shane Black, Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, and that Shane Black was still attached to direct up until 2013, which is, coincidentally, when his blockbuster Iron Man 3 hit theaters.

Death Note is based on the Japanese manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, which follows a young student who finds a bizarre notebook. He discovers that he can kill anyone instantly simply by writing their name in the notebook, as an FBI agent starts tracking him when the bodies keep piling up.

Dan Lin, Doug Davidson, Roy Lee and Brian Witten are producing, although no shooting schedule was released. Death Note has been previously adapted into an anime TV series, two live-action Japanese features and a video game series, but this will be the first American adaptation.

Gus Van Sant most recently directed Promised Land. While he is best known for dramas such as Good Will Hunting and Milk, the filmmaker drew critical raves for his indie thriller Paranoid Park.