Shiro Kuroi’s gripping sci-fi survival horror manga Leviathan is heading to theaters as a live-action film on February 11, 2027. The adaptation arrives via Toho with a focus on the high-stakes death game at its core.
Shunsuke Michieda, a member of the boy idol group Naniwa Danshi, stars as Kazuma Ichinose. Natsuki Deguchi, known for playing Futaba Yoshioka in the Blue Spring Ride drama series, joins him in a key role. The newly released teaser trailer depicts students turning on one another with brutal intensity inside a damaged spaceship, including a chilling line delivered with an ice-cold expression and moments of visible despair from the protagonist, while the accompanying visuals highlight the stark “Survival Rate: 1/38” motif.
Watch the trailer below:
Michihito Fujii, known for works such as Faceless and Last Samurai Standing, and Ryohei Shingu share directing duties on the film. The pair previously collaborated on the 2023 music video for Japanese rock band amazarashi’s track “Swipe.”
The manga’s author Kuroi shared the following comment: I am extremely grateful that a manga I quietly created a few years ago was given the opportunity to be published in France, and that it was even adapted into a live-action movie based on it. I believe that, thanks to the help of visual production professionals with exceptional technical skills, it has been made into a wonderful visual content. I would be delighted if many people checked out this death game set in a spaceship, where the survival rate is 1 in 38.
What is Leviathan manga about?
Leviathan is a three-volume sci-fi survival horror manga that blends intense psychological tension with graphic depictions of human desperation. French publisher Ki-oon first released the series in January 2022 after approaching the creator, who had previously gained notice through doujinshi work. It later serialized in Japan on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ platform beginning in August 2022 and concluded in early 2023, with English editions published under Abrams ComicArts’ Kana imprint. The story ranks among the top-selling new manga titles in France upon its debut and has drawn comparisons to works that explore the collapse of social bonds under extreme pressure.
The official description from Kana, a manga imprint launched by Abrams ComicArts, reads:
Monster or human . . . What sleeps deep in the darkness? The Leviathan, an enormous spaceship, drifts in spaces, abandoned in a galaxy far, far away. When looters break into the abandoned ship, they discover the diary of a middle-schooler, Kazuma, who documented the horrific fate of its passengers. Shocked, the looters read on, but as they do, they reach a chilling realization—there is still one survivor somewhere inside! Along with the looters, the reader will piece together the decades-old tale of an innocent school trip to Earth with a tragic and brutal ending, as sudden explosions destroy the hull of the Leviathan. Trapped in space without enough oxygen left to wait for rescue, Kazuma documents the mental collapse and treachery of his teacher and classmates as they realize that the only hope for survival is the cryopreservation unit at the heart of the ship . . . which can only fit one person. A bloody battle for survival ensues as friend turns against friend, teacher against student, and each survivor is forced to confront the value of their own life. > Is it possible to keep one's humanity when lost in the darkness of space? And moreover, what kind of survivor of that vicious struggle do looters find themselves alone with, decades after the dust has settled?
The February 2027 release positions the film as a rare large-scale Japanese production that translates a French-originated manga’s confined, high-pressure setting into a theatrical experience driven by practical intensity and extensive visual effects. With Michieda and Deguchi anchoring the central conflict and the dual directors bringing complementary approaches to character and spectacle, the project stands as a direct extension of the source material’s uncompromising vision rather than a softened reinterpretation.
Sources: Official website and X account of the Leviathan live-action film
