Pan-Asian studio Through the Lens Entertainment (TTLE) has teamed with Fangoria Studios to produce three films based on works by Japanese horror manga author Junji Ito.
It was revealed last year that Fangoria was developing a live-action feature based on Ito’s manga Bloodsucking Darkness. However, the US outfit now also plans to adapt Ito’s The Mystery Of The Haunted House Part 1 and Part 2 and has partnered with Singapore-based TTLE to help realise the projects.
Bloodsucking Darkness follows a girl with an eating disorder who vomits blood and is stalked by vampire bats, while The Mystery Of The Haunted House revolves around two friends who must escape a ghostly home and its demented proprietor. The tales originate from the Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection.
All three projects are set to be live-action features and will go into creative development after this summer, with production planned for 2025 and 2026.
Ito will serve as producer alongside Armen Aghaeian, Tara Ansley, and Abhi Goel of Fangoria Studios, Yasu Kutami and Tsubasa Yamaguchi of Amuse Group USA and Aditya Chand and Jay Van Hoy of TTLE. Indie producer Carlos Aguirre, who brokered the deal, will serve as executive producer.
Chand, the chairman and CEO of TTLE who founded the company last year, said the features would “push the boundaries of what East-West collaboration can achieve in the modern age”.
The Ito films are positioned as the first projects in a larger co-development and co-production deal between TTLE and Fangoria. It also marks Van Hoy’s growing involvement with TTLE, having joined the company as chief producing officer earlier this year. The producer is known for Robert Eggers’ horror features The Witch and The Lighthouse as well as Andrea Arnold’s American Honey.
Ito is one of Japan’s most prominent manga artists both locally and internationally, where he is known for horror manga such as Tomie and Uzumaki, both of which have been adapted into films in Japan. He is the winner of multiple Eisner Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in the comic industry. Many of his manga have also been adapted as animation productions, including Adult Swim/Toonami’s upcoming Uzumaki miniseries, which debuts September 28.
Fangoria Studios was launched by horror brand and magazine Fangoria following Fangoria’s acquisition by Ansely and Goel in 2021.
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