TL;DR, Toei, Thai M Studio and South Korea’s Showbox will co-produce a live-action adaptation of Junji Ito’s The Long Hair in the Attic, with Sitisiri Mongkolsiri directing. Development should finish this year and filming is planned for 2027.

Toei, Thailand’s M Studio, and South Korea’s Showbox announced The Long Hair in the Attic live-action film with Thai director Sitisiri Mongkolsiri attached. Development is set to wrap this year, with cameras planned to roll in 2027, signaling a careful runway for adapting Junji Ito’s one-shot.

What the live-action announcement for The Long Hair in the Attic says

Toei, Thailand’s M Studio, and South Korea’s Showbox used their joint announcement to confirm they are collaborating on a live-action adaptation of Junji Ito’s horror one-shot The Long Hair in the Attic. Thai filmmaker Sitisiri Mongkolsiri, known for The Red Line, Hunger, and Inhuman Kiss, will direct. The staff plans to finish development on the project this year, with filming in 2027 set to follow.

The companies did not share casting, locations, or release plans, which are not yet confirmed.

The announcement did not outline the plot in detail, but the source material begins with Chiemi, a long-haired girl whose boyfriend ends their relationship after saying they do not belong together. She remembers that she once wore her hair short and grew it long to please him. She decides to cut it, and asks her sister Eri to fetch scissors.

Eri then hears a scream and finds Chiemi’s decapitated body. It is not yet confirmed which scenes or imagery the The Long Hair in the Attic live-action film will highlight, but the adaptation will likely draw from this sequence and its focus on hair, obsession, and a shocking discovery in the home.

Junji Ito’s one-shot debuted in Asahi Sonorama’s Monthly Halloween magazine in 1988. The story has appeared on screen before in a Japanese live-action film released in 2000, and as an anime episode within the 2023 omnibus series Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre. In English, the manga reached readers three times: in 2000 within ComicsOne’s Flesh Colored Horror collection, in 2006 in Dark Horse Comics’ Museum of Terror volume 3, and in 2021 in Viz Media’s Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection.

With Toei, M Studio, and Showbox aligned and Sitisiri Mongkolsiri attached, this new version enters development now, with key creative choices and further production details not yet confirmed.

Who is making The Long Hair in the Attic film

Toei, Thai film studio M Studio, and South Korean production company Showbox announced they are collaborating on a live-action adaptation of Junji Ito’s The Long Hair in the Attic. This international co production plans to wrap development this year and begin filming in 2027. The Long Hair in the Attic live-action film brings these companies together under one banner to push the project forward.

Casting and other production specifics are not yet confirmed.

Thai director Sitisiri Mongkolsiri will direct. The Sitisiri Mongkolsiri filmography includes The Red Line, Hunger, and Inhuman Kiss. His role places a single creative lead atop the partnership between Toei, M Studio, and Showbox, aligning the development work now with the shoot scheduled for 2027.

Additional details about his approach to the material are not yet confirmed.

Junji Ito’s original one-shot begins with a long-haired girl named Chiemi, whose boyfriend ends their relationship. She had grown out her hair because he said he liked long hair. After the breakup, she decides to cut it.

When her sister Eri searches for scissors, she hears a scream and discovers Chiemi’s decapitated body. These beats define the source and may guide the film’s focus, though scene selection or new material are not yet confirmed. The manga debuted in 1988 in Monthly Halloween.

It previously received a Japanese live-action film in 2000, and it appeared as an anime episode in the 2023 omnibus series Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre.

Why Junji Ito fans are talking about The Long Hair in the Attic film

Fans of Junji Ito zeroed in on the new announcement because it unites major studios and a distinct director on a schedule they can track. Toei, Thai studio M Studio, and South Korea’s Showbox will co-produce, with Thai filmmaker Sitisiri Mongkolsiri (The Red Line, Hunger, Inhuman Kiss) directing. The staff plans to finish development this year, with filming set to begin in 2027.

That clear runway lets viewers revisit the roots of Yaneura no Nagai Kami while they wait, and it sets a high bar after the story’s steady life across media.

The original manga one-shot ran in Monthly Halloween in 1988, and it carries a simple hook that still stings. The story follows a long-haired girl named Chiemi after her boyfriend breaks up with her, and her memory of growing her hair because he liked it long. She decides to cut it off.

When her sister Eri looks for scissors, she hears a scream and finds Chiemi’s decapitated body. Those beats are what many will watch for in the new The Long Hair in the Attic live-action film: the breakup that shifts power, the reveal that Chiemi changed herself for someone else, the moment of resolve to cut, Eri’s frantic search, the scream, and the grim discovery. How the adaptation frames the Chiemi Eri relationship will likely shape the tension.

Specific casting, visual approach, and any changes to scene order are not yet confirmed.

Viewers also have two touchstones to compare. The tale already became a 2000 live-action feature in Japan, and it returned in anime form within the 2023 Junji Ito Maniac omnibus series. Those versions help map which images and rhythms land on screen.

This new cross-border team signals a fresh angle, while the director’s genre credits suggest a steady hand with mood. English readers can trace the story’s reach through past releases in Flesh Colored Horror (2000), Museum of Terror vol. 3 (2006), and Deserter (2021).

With production partners in place and a 2027 start line, discussion now centers on how faithfully the film will draw from the tight chain of events that first made the one-shot so sharp.

Related: other live-action adaptations.

Related: 2027 film dates.

Related: best action anime list.

Source: ANN