Interesting things are happening with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, but it’s going to leave some fans upset. It looks as though Paramount, the studio that owns the property and was recently acquired by Skydance, is ready to revitalize it… again. With that in mind, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the TMNT: The Last Ronin movie that was in development is seemingly dead (for now).
Per THR, Sonic the Hedgehog and Fast and Furious producer Neal H. Moritz is taking on the heroes in a half shell in an effort to, what the report calls, “Sonic-fy” the franchise. Given the immense success of the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy of movies, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. For adults who grew up with the turtles and followed the story through to its ultimate conclusion in The Last Ronin, though, this might be a hard pill to swallow.
The Last Ronin film was going to be an R-rated adaptation of the five-issue IDW comic book that follows the story of the last Ninja Turtle standing after years of battles. It’s set in a future where New York has become something of a cyberpunk totalitarian society run with a bladed fist by the grandson of the Shredder. The lone turtle joins forces with an older April O’Neil and her daughter, Casey Marie Jones (guess who her father is?), in an attempt to save the city one last time.
Image: IDW Publishing
It’s a wildly popular story with longtime TMNT fans — enduring too; it’s managed to be the top-selling graphic novel for the last two years. Still, while a wonderful tale, an R-rated Ninja Turtles movie might not be the best way for Paramount to bring TMNT back to the live-action space. At least, that seems to be Paramount’s reasoning. Instead, the studio wants a viable franchise full of potential sequels and spinoffs because, unlike Sonic, G.I. Joe, and the Transformers, Paramount owns Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and has total control.
Still, while the new course for the franchise seems to mean The Last Ronin‘s movie script is going in a drawer for now, these changes shouldn’t impact the other TMNT franchise that’s ongoing. The animated Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem still has a sequel on track for a 2027 release. Though the TV spinoff Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was canceled earlier this month
Whatever happens, it’s at least heartening to know that something is happening with the Ninja Turtles. After the success of Mutant Mayhem in 2023, there hasn’t been much movement in terms of what comes next. Sure, there’s more Mutant Mayhem on the way to the big screen. Beyond that, we know there’s something in the works, though who knows exactly what. But if Paramount wanted a successful movie franchise that’s a hybrid of live-action and animated storytelling, it’s hard to think of better people to ask than the producers of the Sonic movies.
Meanwhile, we still have no word on what’s happening with the video game adaptation of The Last Ronin. It was originally announced more than two years ago to plenty of excitement. Since then, though, there have been no less than four TMNT games (Wrath of the Mutants, Splintered Fate, Mutants Unleashed, and Tactical Takedown) and the turtles were even added as purchasable characters in Call of Duty and Fortnite. Still, we have never had a prime AAA Ninja Turtles game and The Last Ronin could be what we’ve all been waiting for. We just need Paramount to follow through on it, regardless of the status of the movie.
