0
0
Well, they got us excited. They piqued our interest. They promised us something that could have been wonderful in so many ways and then stripped it away like Krampus stealing your Christmas presents. That’s right boys and girls. The new regime has axed the proposed R-rated and bloody Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Last Ronin live action films in favor for a redo in the vein of Sonic. Yep, you all thought that you were finally going to get your adults only Turtles action on the big screen, didn’t you? Well. guess again because we are going to get a new live action iteration but it ain’t going to be R-rated and glorious. Thanks David Elliosn and your resting dumb face.
This news is a few days old, but I recently started a new job this past week and with it, my arms are ready to fall off but I’m finally here to bitch about what could have been.
According to THR, “Neal H. Moritz, the veteran producer behind The Fast and the Furious franchise, is in negotiations to take on the job of restarting TMNT as a live-action film franchise for Paramount Pictures. Toby Ascher, who works with Moritz at their Original Films banner, will also act as a producer.”
Sounds OK at first, doesn’t it? But then they hit you with this!
“At the same time, The Last Ronin, another TMNT live-action/CG animation hybrid project that was in development, has been put back in the pizza box, according to sources. That project was being developed as an R-rated feature, and had Nobody filmmaker Ilya Naishuller in talks to direct, but the new regime wasn’t keen on having the first non-animated movie in 10 years be a bloody, adult-skewing story. One insider says the studio wants to leave the door open to possibly revisit it down the road.”
Revisit it down the road? Well, I guess that’s something but usually that means, NAH! No thank you. What makes all this worse is that they want to “Sonic-fy” the new film which establishes the fact that it’s going to be another family friendly adventure with our four heroes in a half shell downing slices of pizza and yelling “Cowabunga!” once again.
We could have had blood spewing, body decapitating, Ninja Turtle goodness but now we will have pretty much what we have gotten ever since the Turtles went from ultra-violent underground comic to Saturday morning TV. What could have been? Well, I guess it could still happen, but I am not going to hold my breath. I guess I’ll just go back to reading the original adult-oriented action of the original comics and watch the awesome YouTube short by John Liken which shows off Leonardo decapitating Foot soldiers. Check out defense exhibit A below that has been circulating for a few years now.
The report goes on to say, “The move occurs as the Skydance-owned studio is taking a magnifying glass to its slate and existing IP. As opposed to some other titles, namely Transformers or G.I. Joe, Paramount fully owns the TMNT brand, having picked it up from co-creator Peter Laird in 2009, and is seeking to fully unlock its potential.”
Oh, by the way, that GI Joe/Transformers crossover that was in development too is also nixed pretty much. We are going to get another Transformers film down the road, but it will probably be just like the crap they dished out in recent years. GI Joe hasn’t adapted well on the big screen so who knows when and if we will get anymore Yo Joe chances in live action. There are rumblings of a new Energon Universe animated series being planned so hopefully that comes to pass and is as epic as the Image/Skybound line of comics.
Yep. That’s what we could have got. I’m not going to close my mind off to a new live action TMNT film, but I was full on onboard with The Last Ronin as the story is a true testament to how great this IP could be.
