Horror manga sensei Junji Ito is a bestselling author in the US, and more of his chilling works are coming to the screen. Fangoria Studios today announced they are developeing the vampire manga Bloodsucking Darkness , according to Variety. Screenwriter Jeff Howard (Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) is attached to write the screenplay, and will also executive produce. Junji Ito will serve as producer.
Bloodsucking Darkness is a one shot from Ito’s 2019 collection Smashed (which is collected and translated from his previous 2002 compilation Voices in the Dark). Ito is a master of body horror and the macabre and his work has rapidly been growing in popularity over the past decade, with more and more of his some-thirty-year back catalogue being released in English.
To Variety, Ito said about the potential movie:
“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.”
On getting the opportunity to write and executive produce, Howard 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.”
Fangoria Studios Senior VP Armen Aghaeian said:
“Ito’s stories and visuals are pure nightmare fuel. The team at Fangoria is honored to be working alongside Junji Ito. We are excited to bring the horror found in the pages of his work to life onto the biggest screens possible.”
Currently Bloodsucking Darkness has no director attached. Producers include Fangoria Studios’ Tara Ansley, Armen Aghaeian and Abhi Goel; alongside Amuse Group USA’s Yasu Kutami and Tsubasa Yamaguchi. Executive producers include Jeff Howard; Kevin Nicklaus; Zero Gravity Management’s Ryan Lewis and Joe Riley; and Friel Films Phil Wurtzel.
Fangoria Studios is an offshoot of Fangoria, a longstanding horror movie fan magazine. While the magazine has been in existence since 1979, Fangoria Studios was established in 2021 following the purchase of Fangoria and its affiliate publications by Wanderwall Entertainment CEO Tara Ansley and entrepreneur Abhi Goel with the intent to turn it into a multimedia brand.
Bloodsucking Darkness is not the only Ito manga that can be viewed on screen or streamings. The anime Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre is curently streaming on Netflix, and a long brewing adaptation of his masterpiece Uzumaki is still in the works, also from Netflix.
Unless you know something that hasn’t been announced, Uzumaki is still coming to Adult Swim, not Netflix.
Comments are closed.