Junji Ito Manga Bloodsucking Darkness Gets Live-Action Feature at Fangoria Studios

Image via VIZ Media’s Junji Ito page and new release Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection

 

The horror manga of Junji Ito has graced the screen in many different ways, from live-action films like Higuchinsky’s Uzumaki to the most recent anime attempt, Junji Ito Maniac: Tales of the Macabre, all to wildly varying degrees of success. Now another one of his stories, Bloodsucking Darkness, is getting ready to make the leap to a live-action feature film courtesy of Fangoria Studios and The Haunting of Hill House writer Jeff Howard.

 

RELATED: INTERVIEW: The Dark Inner Child of Horror Manga Artist Junji Ito

 

According to the initial announcement, this is just the first of three projects Fangoria Studios is aiming to adapt from the Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection manga, which VIZ Media published in English on April 16, 2019.

 

In addition to writing, Howard will serve as one of the executive producers for Bloodsucking Darkness, which doesn’t have a director at the time of this writing. Other producers include Junji Ito himself; Fangoria Studios’ Tara Ansley, Armen Aghaeian and Abhi Goel; and Amuse Group USA’s Yasu Kutami and Tsubasa Yamaguchi. Phil Wurtzel of Friel Films will executive produce, as will Ryan Lewis and Joe Riley of Zero Gravity Management and Kevin Nicklaus.

 

Here’s what Junji Ito had to say about the announcement:

 

“Fangoria Studios is going to adapt my manga! I’m so excited to see how it will turn out. I hope I get to see the trailer in my dreams tonight.”

 

Jeff Howard shared the following comment:

 

“When I found out a live action Junji Ito adaptation was going to happen, I chased after it with everything I had, because I just couldn’t live with anyone else getting there before me. The combination of fear and feelings is where I always want to be.”

 

VIZ describes Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection like so

 

Try not to be noticed when you eat the secret nectar, otherwise you’ll get smashed… What horrific events happened to create the earthbound—people tied to a certain place for the rest of their short lives? Then, a strange haunted house comes to town, but no one expects it to lead to a real hell… Welcome to Junji Ito’s world, a world with no escape from endless nightmares.

 

Source: Variety

 

 

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Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his comics at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox.