Last November, it was revealed that a new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is on the way, with The Fast and the Furious franchise producer Neal H. Moritz overseeing the project for Paramount Pictures.
The Skydance-owned studio is looking to breathe new life into its IPs, and this live-action/CG-hybrid would be the first time we've seen the Heroes in a Half Shell in a non-animated setting since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows flopped in 2016.
Despite it being a critical hit, Paramount appears eager to move on from the animated franchise that began with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in 2023. Another casualty of the studio's creative pivot was the decision to halt work on The Last Ronin.
The movie was supposed to be an R-rated adaptation of the popular graphic novel. Nobody director Ilya Naishuller had been in talks to direct, we recently learned that "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."
Based on a story treatment written in 1987 by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, The Last Ronin is set in a future version of New York City ruled over by Shredder's grandson, Oroku Hiroto.
Splinter and Casey Jones are dead, as is all but one of the Ninja Turtles: Michelangelo. Now a hardened warrior, he teams with an older April O'Neil and her daughter, Casey Marie Jones, to liberate the city.
Judith Hoag played April in 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Talking to Collider (via Toonado.com), the actress revealed that she was in talks to reprise the role in The Last Ronin (seemingly confirming that it would be set in the same world as the beloved 90s classic).
"Yes, I've been approached, and I'd be happy," she said. "It would be a great bookend for me. And maybe that happens and maybe it doesn't. We'll see."
Calling it "a wonderful story," Hoag suggested that Paramount executives lack an understanding of what fans want from the franchise. "Maybe you need to go to a comic con and spend some time with the fans," she mused.
Hoag was replaced by Paige Turco in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.
The next hybrid live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is coming to theaters on November 17, 2028. It's been said that the plan is to "Sonic-fy" the franchise, which is why The Last Ronin is no longer moving forward.