paramount Pictures is developing a new live-action Teenage Mutant โขNinja Turtles movie โขfranchise, while plansโ for an R-ratedโค adaptation of The Last Ronin comic series have been paused. The announcement comes as Paramount assesses its film slate โขand seeks to maximize โขthe potential โฃof the fully-owned TMNT โ intellectual property, originally created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise follows Leonardo,donatello,Raphael,and Michelangelo โ-โ four heroes protecting New โYork City from villainsโ like โShredder – and โhas spanned decades of movies,television shows,comics,and video games. The most recent film,โค Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: โคMutant Mayhem, released in 2023, is receiving a sequel currently scheduled for September 17, โฃ2027. However, the Mutant Mayhem spin-off series, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,โค was recently cancelled after two seasons.
Producer Neal H. Moritz is in talks to spearhead the new live-action franchise.Paramount acquired the TMNT brand from co-creator Peter Lairdโฃ in 2009.This new project will be theโ first live-action TMNT film sinceโฃ 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
A previously reported live-action/CG hybrid project basedโ on The Last Ronin has been “put back in the pizza box,” according to the hollywood Reporter.The project, envisioned โฃas an R-rated feature with nobody filmmakerโ Ilya Naishuller potentiallyโข directing, was shelved because the studio prefers to avoid launching โa non-animated TMNT film in over โฃa decade with a mature, violent storyline. Studio representatives have indicated the โคpossibilityโฃ of โขrevisiting the Last Ronin adaptation in the future.โ
“One insider says theโค studio wants to leave the door open to possibly revisit it down the road,” โ The Hollywoodโข Reporter reported.