Japanese video distributor Video Audio Project (VAP) has made an initial shipment of 500,000 box sets of Death Note and its sequel Death Note 2: The Last Name for a total of one million discs. The shipment sets a record for any domestic film released in 2006.

The set also includes a third disc with 150 minutes of extras, a booklet and a CD soundtrack. A rental edition of the first film hit shops on Feb 14 while the sequel is released on the same day as the box set. The first film was broadcast on terrestrial TV less than six months after its theatrical opening last June, timed with the release of the second film in November.

Directed by special effects film veteran Shusuke Kaneko, the films centre around a high school student (Tatsuya Fujiwara) who attempts to rid the world of evil through the use of a notebook with supernatural powers and the detective (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) who tries to stop him.

Tsugumi Ohba's original manga on which the films are based have sold over 23 million copies and an animated TV series began airing last October.

Star Ken'ichi Matsuyama will deliver a special message to shoppers on Shibuya's famed giant screen TV on the day of the box set's release.

A spin-off film starring Matsuyama goes before cameras this year and is set for 2008 release.

The Warner Brothers-NTV Death Note franchise has earned a combined $69.05m (Y8bn) to date.

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