Paramount Scraps Current Plans For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin Movie

There will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles multimedia and adaptations coming in the foreseeable future. A rater-R film based on The Last Ronin, however, appears to no longer be in the plans for the time being.

According to a report from Variety, Paramount has scrapped its original idea for a big screen adaptation of the more grittier and intense five-issue story in favor of a more family friendly approach with a live action movie instead. The Last Ronin Movie project was originally announced in April of 2024 to much fanfare, as many fans were anticipating a more mature approach off the critically acclaimed graphic novel. Production was going to be handled by Walter Hamada, with head writer Tyler Burton Smith.

Neal H. Mortiz, who has over 70 film credits to his name, will oversee the new live action project. Along with is work on The Fast and the Furious series and the Jump Street films, Mortiz's recent credits include the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, Haunted Halloween, and the television show Prison Break. This news of The Last Ronin being placed on hiatus follows the cancellation of the Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series last week, as a part of Paramount Skydance's "shift in strategy", according to Deadline.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

This will be the first live action TMNT movie since 2016's Out of the Shadows, which saw a lukewarm reaction among fans and critics, also under-performing at the box office. Its failure led to a cancellation of that creative vision, which begat the 2023 CGI animated movie Mutant Mayhem, produced by Seth Rogen, and saw the four Heroes in a Half-shell voiced by teenagers for the first time. Mutant Mayhem, which did better at the theaters, will see a sequel set to release September 17th 2027.

The Last Ronin may have a pin stuck in it for now as a movie adaptation, but the question is, how long will it stay in limbo?