2026 is set to be a big year for the Joestars, as Netflix is planning to navigate the horse race across America in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run. Focusing on the story of Johnny Joestar and his hopes of regaining the use of his legs, the storyline has routinely been thought of as one of the biggest entries of the anime franchise. While the future of the Joestars is bright, one major entry from the past remains out of fans’ grasp. In a new blurb from Phantom Blood The Movie’s director, Junichi Hayama, shares a disappointing update with fans.
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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood received a film from Studio A.P.P.P., which would actually be one of three adaptations focusing on the story of Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando. The movie was released in 2007 in Japan for a limited time, and in a recent interview, Hayama details the reasoning behind why we might never see the film hit the screen again: “It seems that those responsible for the original work didn’t like the final product. It was a feature-length film that was even screened for several days. We had some bad luck, as we were unable to make corrections in time for the theatrical release. The decision was made to release it nonetheless, despite the corrections we still hadn’t added.”
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood is M.I.A.
Hayama further explained what happened with the lost JoJo media, “We opted to add the corrections to the home video release on DVD/Blu-Ray. We had even gotten corrections from Mr. Araki. So I reworked the storyboards accordingly. We were awaiting Shueisha’s response, which didn’t seem to be coming. Then, all of a sudden, they contacted us saying they were going to take care of everything that still needed to be done, and asked us to give them all the production materials: the storyboards, the cels, everything related to the corrections! ‘We’re going to make this presentable. Don’t worry,” They told us, then nothing. Everything had been taken from us.”
Junichi Hayama is a legend in the anime world, having produced some of the biggest anime series, both as a director and an animator across the board. In his long career, Hayama worked on the likes of Berserk, Fist of the North Star, Big O, Mobile Suit Gundam, Lupin the 3rd, One Piece, Pokémon, and too many others to count. While no word has been revealed regarding the potential release of this JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure film, we are crossing our fingers that the popularity of the franchise eventually brings it to light.
While JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is set to return to the anime world this spring, the manga is still running strong thanks to creator Hirohiko Araki. Following the Steel Ball Run, JoJolion arrived in the manga, with the current run of The JOJOLands still releasing new chapters. We might have to wait some time to see these stories animated, but they will be well worth the wait.
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