The sharp-eyed folks at ShockTillYouDrop.com noticed a mention in the bio of producer Doug Davison (included in Universal’s Production Notes for the recently released horror film The Strangers), indicating that writers Vlas and Charles Parlapanides are scripting a live action American version of Death Note, the high concept manga series by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, which has already spawned three live action movies in Japan as well as a hugely popular anime series that is currently running on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

According to the Production Notes, Davison’s Vertigo Entertainment (no relation to DC’s Vertigo Comics) has commissioned the screenplay, which certainly makes sense since Vertigo has been mining Asian cinema for years having produced American versions of the manga-based Dark Water, the three J-horror-based Grudge films, and The Departed, which was based on the Hong Kong police action drama Infernal Affairs. Roy Lee, who along with Davison runs Vertigo, also produced The Ring, the American version of the J-horror film Ringu, so the company’s interest in Death Note appears very plausible.

In September Viz Pictures will release the first of three Japanese live action Death Note movies on DVD.