R-Rated Live-Action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin Movie Will Adapt The Darkest TMNT Story Yet

The "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise has been rolling and evolving non-stop since the original Mirage Studios comic book series was adapted into an animated series in 1987 and a live-action blockbuster movie in 1990, which essentially created the modern superhero comedy. Since then, there have been a variety of sequels and reboots in film and television, including the stellar animated overhaul that impressed the hell out of us in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" last year. But we're about to get another live-action "TMNT" movie that will adapt one of the darkest comic book storylines in the franchise's history.

Paramount Pictures will be turning the hit comic book miniseries "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin" into a live-action movie. This is a huge deal, especially since The Hollywood Reporter says it'll be R-rated, a first for the franchise. Tyler Burton Smith is set to write the screenplay, with Walter Hamada producing. No director is attached yet. 

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin" is a five-issue comic book miniseries from IDW Publishing, released between October 2020 and April 2022. Set in an alternate future outside of IDW's original "TMNT" comic continuity, the story follows the last remaining turtle, who is on a mission of revenge after the other three turtle brothers were killed by Oroku Hiroto, the grandson of their arch nemesis, Shredder. In this version of New York City, Hiroto is running the city like a fascist, largely thanks to synthetic ninja robots, known as Synjas.

As we follow the surviving turtle, whose identity is intentionally kept a mystery until the last panel of the first issue, flashbacks slowly reveal how the other brothers died, sending us down a dark path. If you haven't read the comic series yet, we won't spoil which of the turtles is actually "The Last Ronin," but we implore you to check out the awesome comic series yourself.

"The Last Ronin" was a massive hit for IDW Publishing. When a hardcover collection of the entire story was release in 2022, the initial printing of 60,000 copies sold out within the first six weeks of release, and the title actually landed on the New York Times bestseller list. Thousands more copies have been sold since then, and there have also been sequels: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years" and "The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution," both released in 2023. There's also a video game adaptation on the way, which was initially believed by "TMNT" co-creator Kevin Eastman to be the only adaptation of the material we'd see. So it's a nice surprise that Paramount wants to bring this story to the big screen.

The question how they're going to pull off the live-acton version of the story. Surely they won't be picking up any threads from the franchise as delivered by producer Michael Bay back in the mid-2010s. But it would be kind of amazing if they were able to give us a dark twist on the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," complete with Jim Henson puppeteering. That 1990 movie was both gritty and silly, and having this dark story set maybe a decade or two later in that universe with those versions of the characters could be incredibly cool. 

It's still early days for the "TMNT: The Last Ronin" movie, but we'll be sure to keep you updated with all the latest details, so stay tuned.