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Junji Ito fans have yet another adaptation to look forward to, and this time it's his short story Bloodsucking Darkness that is to make it to the screen. Variety and Collider recently reported that the story will get a live-action movie adaptation.
The movie's screenplay is reportedly provided by Jeff Howard, who has previously worked as a co-executive producer of Resident Evil 2021 and a supervising producer in The Haunting of Hill House. Needless to say, the bar has been set, and fans can expect the movie's creators to put their best foot forward in doing justice to the quintessential Junji Ito horror.
Junji Ito's Bloodsucking Darkness live-action adaptation will be produced by Fangoria Studios
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The movie will be under the production of Fangoria Studios, which plans to adapt Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection in three parts, with Bloodsucking Darkness being the first. The staff working on the movie has been revealed, although we do not have any news on the cast or the director yet.
The film will be produced by Tara Ansley, Armen Aghaeian, and Abhi Goel under Fangoria, with Yasu Kutami and Tsubasa Yamaguchi of Amuse Group USA. Speaking to Collider, Jeff Howard expressed his admiration for Ito's work and excitement for the upcoming project. He said:
“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.”
Ito's work has set the benchmark in the horror manga genre, owing to his impeccable ability to invoke terror with the help of a single panel. His bold art style complements the horror element of the narrative to near perfection. Some of his greatest creations include the Tomie series, Uzumaki and Gyo.
The short story Bloodsucking Darkness is a one-shot manga chapter from Ito's Voices in the Dark and tells the story of Nami, who gets obsessed with dieting to the extent that it leads to nightmarish consequences for her.
Ito's work has been previously adapted twice as anime series, Junji Ito Collection (2018) and the very recent Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023). Both of them had received mixed reviews, with critics noting that they didn't quite hit the mark in translating the terror of the original manga panel for the screen.
We can hope that the upcoming movie will get it right, holding the hands of Jeff Howard, whose repertoire boasts two very successful horror series. We do not have any tentative date as to when the movie for Bloodsucking Darkness might be released, given that it is still in its infant phase, but we will let you know as soon as we get any more updates.
Stay tuned for other trending manga and anime updates.
