'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin' Live Action Film In Development
'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin' Live Action Film In Development
Walter Hamada is producing, with 'Boy Kills World’ writer Tyler Burton Smith writing the R-rated film
Oh, this is some major Turtle power going on. Paramount may very well be developing a third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. However, unlike the sequel to box office smash Mutant Mayhem and the Colin and Casey Jost-written live action film announced in 2021 (which admittedly has been very quiet if not completely MIA) this one will be R-rated. That is because the film will be a live-action adaptation of the highly-popular semi-standalone Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin miniseries from current license holder IDW Comics.
Tyler Burton Smith, whose writing credits include co-writing the upcoming R-rated action flick Boy Kills World and soloing the 2019 Child’s Play reboot, is writing this, while former DC Films head Walter Hamada is producing through his 18hz production company as part of his multi-year deal with the studio that he opened in early 2023 soon after signing the deal with Paramount in November 2022, when James Gunn and Peter Safran assumed his former role. Hamada’s rise to power at Warner Bros. came through overseeing New Line’s horror movies, including The Conjuring and It franchises. 18hz was created to foster development of new horror movies.
Set in a totalitarian future New York City, the comic mini-series told of how the Turtles and master Splinter are killed off in a totalitarian future New York City one by one by the grandson of the villainous Shredder and synthetic ninjas. Only one brother barely survives promising bloody revenge. For most of the series, readers were kept in the dark as to who was the surviving Turtle, thanks to wearing a black mask and having inherited the fallen’s weapons. Running from 2020 to 2022, the collected trade paperback was the second highest-selling graphic novel of last year. It was followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin - Lost Years, published from January to August 2023 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution, which began publication last month. IDW is also relaunching the mainline Ninja Turtles comic series timed to the title’s 40th anniversary, in conjunction with the renewal of their license. A video game adaptation of the miniseries was announced last March from Black Forest Games and THQ Nordic.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter