Ultra-violent turtle power.
Going back to the days of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, its various creators have struggled with live-action depictions of inherently violent weapons like katanas. Now Paramount seems to have a solution: just make an R-rated version of the heroes in a half shell.
THR reports that Tyler Burton Smith, who has worked on Boy Kills World and Child's Play among other projects, is working on a script for a live-action adaptation of The Last Ronin — the grim and gritty distant finale for the original IDW comics. Former DC Studios head Walter Hamada is producing the project with his production company, 18hz. It's intended to be R-rated, suggesting it will be by far the most violent Turtles movie to date.
It fits well with the current trend toward R-rated versions of classic kids properties, such as Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and the upcoming horror movie featuring Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. The big difference in this case is that darknesse has been part of TMNT's DNA going back to the days of IDW's black-and-white indie comics, which is exemplified by The Last Ronin.
First released back in 2020, The Last Ronin features a dystopian world in which all but one of the Turtles have perished, drawing inspiration from God of War among other works. It written by original creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who said it was based on an outline from a story in 1987.
The Last Ronin was a big success for the Turtles, earning the story a sequel featuring a new generation of turtles. A Last Ronin video game is also in development. Elsewhere, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues to enjoy remarkable success as a multi-generational property, with Mutant Mayhem being hailed as one of the best animated movies of 2023…though it wasn’t by the hardcore fans who viewed the changes to out of place.
The Last Ronin does not yet have a release date, so it'll likely be a bit before we see it on the big screen.
Comments