Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, a new live-action adaptation of the 2020 comic mini-series from franchise creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, including writers and artists Tom Waltz and Andy Kuhn, is currently in development at Paramount Pictures, entertainment outlets have learned. This film will be R-rated, setting it apart from previous installments that include the original 1990 film from Golden Harvest and New Line Cinema.
THR reports:
- “Paramount is developing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin…as a live-action feature with the intent of making it for an R-rating.”
- “Tyler Burton Smith, who co-wrote the upcoming R-rated action movie Boy Kills World and who wrote the 2019 iteration of Chucky horror franchise Child’s Play, is penning the script.”
- “Walter Hamada…the former head of DC Films…is producing through his 18hz production company as part of his multi-year deal with the studio.”
- “The comics were an unexpected massive hit, with the collected trade paperback being the second highest-selling graphic novel of 2023…”
- “[IDW] recently released the sequel TMNT: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution, with the debut issue touted as being one of the biggest comics of the year with more than 140,000 copies ordered.”
What the Turtles might look like in the film:
IDW’s synopsis for the comic:
Who is the Last Ronin? In a future, battle-ravaged New York City, a lone surviving Turtle embarks on a seemingly hopeless mission seeking justice for the family he lost. From legendary TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, get ready for the final story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles three decades in the making! What terrible events destroyed his family and left New York a crumbling, post-apocalyptic nightmare? All will be revealed in this climactic Turtle tale that sees longtime friends becoming enemies and new allies emerging in the most unexpected places. Can the surviving Turtle triumph? Eastman and Laird are joined by writer Tom Waltz, who penned the first 100 issues of IDW’s ongoing TMNT series, and artists Esau & Isaac Escorza (Heavy Metal) and Ben Bishop (The Far Side of the Moon) with an Introduction by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez! Collects the complete five-issue miniseries in a new graphic novel, an adventure as fulfilling for longtime Turtles fans as it is accessible for readers just discovering the heroes in a half shell.