The master of horror manga, Junji Ito, is joining forces with Fangoria Studios to bring Bloodsucking Darkness from Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection to the big screen with a live-action adaptation. The release of thirteen collected stories, in which Bloodsucking Darkness is included, occurred back in April of 2019. If you’re ok with being the story being spoiled, there’s a longer explanation of the content being adapted and it can be found here.
Smashed description:
“Try not to be noticed when you eat the secret nectar, otherwise you’ll getsmashed… 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.”
Description for Junji Ito’s Smashed manga
Bloodsucking Darkness will have Jeff Howard on as executive producer. Notable past titles from Howard include The Haunting Of Hill House, Midnight Mass and Oculus. The live-action film isn’t the only titles Fangoria Studios is looking to adapt from Junji Ito’s Smashed, its one out of three stories from the collection being brought to life. Like many aspects of Ito’s personality, his reaction to the adaptation was just as heartwarming as the horror manga author is in life.
““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!”
Junji Ito – on the adaptation news
Ito has had other works brought to screens but typically they’ve involved being told as anthology series and in animation not live-action. His upcoming title, Soichi: Junji Ito Story Collection, will be arriving on July 25, 2023 and can be pre-ordered on VIZ Media’s website. Ito also has a title, Tombs, recently made available on March 28 which can now be purchased. The announcement of the live-action Bloodsucking Darkness is very recent so not much else is known about it, but I’ll be sure to be on the lookout. Feel free to subscribe to emails to be alerted when my next article arrives! Let me know your favorite Junji Ito story in the comments below.
