Big news! We are so excited to announce legendary Japanese horror mangaka/manga author and artist Junji Ito is joining forces with FANGORIA Studios to produce Bloodsucking Darkness. Ito fans may recognize the title from Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection. Executive Producer and screenwriter Jeff Howard (The Haunting Of Hill House, Midnight Mass, Oculus) has been tapped to develop the screen adaptation of this vampire tale on behalf of FANGORIA Studios. The live-action feature film is set to be the first of three stories that FANGORIA Studios plans to adapt from Ito's Smashed.
Junji Ito expressed his excitement about the upcoming project, “FANGORIA Studios is going to adapt my manga! I'm so excited to see how it will turn out,” adding, “I hope I get to see the trailer in my dreams tonight!"
Executive Producer and Screenwriter Jeff Howard is also looking forward to the dream (nightmare) adaptation, “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."
SVP of FANGORIA Studios Armen Aghaeian adds, “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."
Junji Ito began his career as a manga horror writer while working as a dental technician. He fully devoted himself fully to the manga business in the late 1980s, and in 1998 he began serializing Uzumaki in Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan). Since then, he has continued to publish unique works such as Gyo and Smashed. At the Eisner Awards, one of the most prestigious comic book awards in the world, Ito has won "Best Adaptation from Another Medium" for Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection in 2019, "Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia'' for Remina in 2021, and the "Best Writer/Artist" for Venus in the Blind Spot in 2021. In 2022, Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection won "Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia," marking the fourth time he has achieved this feat. In 2023, on the 35th anniversary of his career, he was awarded the "Fauve d'Honneur" honorary prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France.
Ito's work has been adapted for the screen in animated form, most recently for the Netflix series Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales Of The Macabre, which included tales from Tomie, Souichi, and The Hanging Balloons. Adult Swim also has an animated adaptation on the horizon, coming this spring. You can read more about Junji Ito— artist, icon, maniac in FANGORIA issue #18 and of course, we'll keep you posted on all the Bloodsucking Darkness developments!
Tara Ansley, Armen Aghaeian, and Abhi Goel will produce under FANGORIA Studios alongside Yasu Kutami and Tsubasa Yamaguchi of Amuse Group USA. Phil Wurtzel will serve as an Executive Producer through his production company Friel Films. Jeff Howard and Kevin Nicklaus will serve as Executive Producers, along with Ryan Lewis and Joe Riley from Zero Gravity Management.
