With the success of the animated film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, most fans knew it was only a matter of time before the boys returned to live-action. According to The Hollywood ReporterOpens in a new tab, that’s exactly what’s happening, but in a new and unexpected way. According to the report, Paramount is developing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, an adaptation of a popular recent IDW comics series and an upcoming video gameOpens in a new tab. Not only will this be a live-action feature, but in a first for the Ninja Turtles franchise, they are aiming for an R-rating. Former DC Films head executive Walter Hamada is producing.
Tyler Burton Smith, who co-wrote the 2019 reboot of Child’s Play is writing the script. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin comic is a relatively recent one, coming out as a five-issue mini-series in 2020. It was co-written by TMNT creator Peter Laird, along with Tom Waltz. Esau and Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, and Eastman provided the art. The Last Ronin takes place in a dystopian future New York, one where Shredder’s murderous grandson kills three of the Turtles and Splinter one by one. Only one of the Turtles survives and goes on a Kill Bill-style mission of revengeOpens in a new tab.
In the original comic, they didn’t make it clear which Turtle survived for some time. Since he had the weapons of all four of them, it was a tantalizing mystery. This The Last Ronin conceit is something they’ll likely keep as part of the upcoming R-rated Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles film.
The last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action film came out in 2016. It was a follow-up to the 2014 reboot produced by Michael Bay. Although both did well financially, they received a mixed reception from TMNT fandom. With the success of the recent animated film, it seems Paramount wants to have Ninja Turtles in a variety of flavorsOpens in a new tab. With the success of movies like Deadpool, there’s nothing stopping an R-rated Ninja Turtles film from finding similar success. Especially as the original comics series was a huge success. No word yet on a director or release date, but we expect this one to get fast-tracked soon.
