Paramount Developing R-Rated Live-Action 'TMNT' Movie Based On 'The Last Ronin' With 'Boy Kills World' Writer

Paramount Developing R-Rated Live-Action ‘TMNT’ Movie Based On ‘The Last Ronin’ With ‘Boy Kills World’ Writer

Today, there was a big shocker from Paramount Pictures as THR reports that the studio is looking to make an R-rated live-action movie set within the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise by adapting the mature storyline “The Last Ronin” as a live-action feature film. A puzzling pursuit since “The Last Ronin” is set in an alternative future where only one of the Turtles is alive while the other three have been killed, making it certainly a strange project from a branding standpoint.

Tyler Burton Smith is set to pen the adaptation after working on films such as “Boy Kills World” and 2019’s “Child’s Play.” The former project from the screenwriter co-wrote with director Moritz Mohr and looks to be an action-packed satirical experience led by Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård as a highly-skilled fighter looking for revenge. A seemingly perfect fit for another revenge-fuelled action story like “The Last Ronin.”

Paramount just last year released “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” which is officially getting a follow-up installment seemingly focused on the Shredder becoming the main antagonist. So, it’s a little odd the studio is going all-in on an R-rated film that will likely be set in an entirely different universe from these animated movies that have already successfully rebooted the Ninja Turtles for a new generation.

Then again, the original comics had graphic violence, and the movies mostly came about because of the toyline and cartoon series being massively popular with children. A similar demographic continues to support the franchise, and I’m sure having an R-rated movie alongside one for kids might become a bit confusing to audiences, potentially more so to parents.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ Sequel Officially Coming To Theaters On October 9, 2026

It was announced by Paramount Pictures that their follow-up to the acclaimed animated film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” would be swinging onto the big screen on October 9, 2026, and is expected to see the return of director Jeff Rowe. The last film focused on a group of mutant baddies led by Superfly that attempted to turn all the creatures on the planet into mutants and ended with the tease of Shredder becoming the sequel’s antagonist.

Shredder would be expected to scoop up Bebop and Rocksteady as his own mutant minions like in previous animated incarnations alongside bringing back the Foot Clan, his group of masked ninja henchmen that are easily beaten up by the Turtles. With a connection to T.C.R.I. executive Cynthia Utrom could be bankrolled by the company to capture our heroes in the next film. “Mutant Mayhem” altered the origins of the turtles and Splinter, so, we should expect a new take on Shredder and the Foot too.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Mondo Gecko joins the roster as he was a standout in the first installment. There is also the possibility that the sequel could include characters such as Casey Jones, the heroic samurai rabbit Miyamoto Usagi, the evil alien Krang with his Technodome, and the dinosaur-like alien species Triceratons.

The impressive voice cast consisted of Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), Sharon Brown Jr. (Mikey), Micah Abbey (Donnie), Brady Noon (Raph), Jackie Chan (Splinter), Ayo Edebiri (April), Ice Cube (Superfly), Seth Rogen (Bebop), John Cena (Rocksteady), Paul Rudd (Mondo Gecko), Rose Byrne (Leatherhead), Post Malone (Ray Fillet), Hannibal Buress (Genghis Frog), Natasia Demetriou (Wing Nut), Maya Rudolph (Cynthia Utrom), and Giancarlo Esposito (Baxter Stockman).

SOURCE: PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Oscar-Winning Composers Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Will Score ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’

In early August, Paramount is releasing the latest incarnation of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” with their all-new animated film “Mutant Mayhem.” They’ve also put together one hell of a voice cast but that isn’t the only big draw for the upcoming soft-reboot as they’ve enlisted some series talent to help put the film’s score together.

After reports (via RollingStone and PitchFork) that iconic skateboarder Tony Hawk leaked the news about Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“Watchmen”) working on the film’s score on a podcast. It was later backed-up by both director Jeff Rowe and producer/co-writer Seth Rogen on their official social media account expressing their excitement having the two Oscar-winners composing the score.

The film’s supporting cast is rather spectacular with Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Jackie Chan as Splinter, Rogen as Bebop, John Cena as Rocksteady, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Ice Cube as Superfly, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom, and Post Malone as Ray Fillet. Alongside the youngsters tapped to voice the turtles such as Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, and Brady Noon as Raphael.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is set to be released in theaters on August 2 and is starting to look like it might end up becoming a good contender for best animated film nominations. This idea stems from Rowe’s last effort “The Mitchells vs The Machines” landing an Oscar nomination in 2022 and in 2021 Reznor/Ross’ film “Soul” from Pixar earned them awards statues for Best Score alongside fellow composer Jon Batiste.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

SOURCE: JEFF ROWE/SETH ROGEN

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’: Paramount Enlists The Jost Brothers To Write New Movie Produced By Michael Bay

Paramount Pictures had previously assigned Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to produce an animated film focused on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rogen took to Twitter to announce that his CGI-animated movie is going to be released on August 11, 2023. The film is directed by Jeff Rowe, who wrote on Disney’s Gravity Falls and Netflix’s Disenchantment. He most recently co-directed the Netflix film The Mitchells Vs. The Machines.

Well, Paramount wants more Ninja Turtles.

Deadline reports that Colin and Casey Jost have been tapped to pen a new movie with Michael Bay set to produce, the assumption is that this will be “live-action” but unknown if it’ll be a continuation of the previous two movies or a hard-reboot. There had been talk that next live-action film would be a reboot but it’s not mentioned in this report.

Colin Jost is famously a writer and Weekend Update co-host on Saturday Night Live.

Starting out as a violent comic book turned kids cartoon and toyline that was eventually developed into a live-action film franchise at New Line Cinema starting in 1990 and was recently rebooted with two installments at Paramount from producer Michael Bay.

Paramount hasn’t had much luck with reboots lately as the Michael Bay movies were increasingly bizarre/incoherent in comparison to the original Ninja Turtles films and the studio recently saw their G.I. Joe reboot Snake Eyes flop hard only earning $28.8 million in two weekends of release on a budget of $88 million.

The original 1990 movie had practical suits from Jim Henson, his final film before passing from cancer.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – In New York, mysterious radioactive ooze has mutated four sewer turtles into talking, upright-walking, crime-fighting ninjas. The intrepid heroes — Michelangelo (Robbie Rist), Donatello (Corey Feldman), Raphael (Josh Pais) and Leonardo (Brian Tochi) — are trained in the Ninjutsu arts by their rat sensei, Splinter. When a villainous rogue ninja, who is a former pupil of Splinter, arrives and spreads lawlessness throughout the city, it’s up to the plucky turtles to stop him.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Producer Seth Rogen Announces Animated ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Movie Releasing August 2023 – Helmed By ‘The Mitchells Vs. The Machines’ Co-Director Jeff Rowe

Yesterday, producer Seth Rogen took to Twitter to announce that his CGI-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is going to be released on August 11, 2023. The film is directed by Jeff Rowe, who wrote on Disney’s Gravity Falls and Netflix’s Disenchantment. He most recently co-directed the Netflix film The Mitchells Vs. The Machines.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was birthed by a mature comic book that was later adapted into a successful toyline, multiple cartoon series, five live-action films, and various video games since the 1980s. It focuses on a group of pizza-obsessed teenage turtles that have been turned into humanoids thanks to a mutagenic ooze with alien origins and are trained by their master/father figure Splinter, a giant rat.

Most of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s experience with comic book properties have been with television projects such as AMC’s Preacher, Netflix’s The Boys, and Amazon’s popular mature animated series Invincible based on the Robert Kirkman comic. Their film credits include Superbad, Pineapple Express, This Is The End,The Interview, and the raunchy animated flick Sausage Party. The producing duo are also involved with Disney’s Darkwing Duck series revival, so they’re not only making mature entertainment.

A new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film was reportedly also in the works, but concrete movement hasn’t been mentioned in ages.

SOURCE: SETH ROGEN

Amazon’s ‘Jack Reacher’ Series Reboot Shooting In Toronto From April To July – Stars Alan Ritchson

The Ronin has been able to independently confirm that Skydance and Amazon’s upcoming Jack Reacher series reboot starring Alan Ritchson will be shooting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Filming is on the streaming series is expected to take place next year from April 15th to July 30th.

Alan Ritchson isn’t a stranger to shooting projects in Canada as he shot DC Universe’s Titans in Toronto as well.

The first season is reportedly taking cues from the novel The Killing Floor written by Lee Child and takes place in Georgia.

Jack Reacher comes to the little town of Margrave looking for information about the mysterious death of a guitar player named Blind Blake. Instead, he finds one of the largest counterfeiting operations in history.

Tom Cruise previously played the titular role in the Paramount feature films Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. A casting choice that author Lee Child was never happy with given the character is a tall and hulking figure in the books.

Skydance Media is also behind Amazon’s Jack Ryan series starring John Krasinski.

Since that Jack Reacher isn’t likely going to wrap until the summer (barring production delays) I wouldn’t assume that it would be ready to be released before the fall of 2021 or early 2022.

Seth Rogen Suggests Making Teenage Films Like ‘Superbad’ Prepared Him To Tackle ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

Actor Seth Rogen has been making the promotional rounds for his upcoming HBO Max film An American Pickle while speaking with Collider they brought-up his new CGI animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film that he is producing with his production company Point Grey Productions alongside partner Evan Goldberg. 

The reboot will be directed by Jeff Rowe (Gravity Falls, Disenchantment) with Brendan O’Brien (Neighbors) writing it. 

Seth revealed to Collider that he’s not only a fan of the property but believes that his experience making teenage movies would allow him to tap into what makes the Turtles awesome, their teenager aspect. 

ROGEN: “As a lifelong fan of Ninja Turtles, weirdly the ‘Teenage’ part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was always the part that stuck out to me the most. And as someone who loves teenage movies, and who’s made a lot of teenage movies, and who literally got their start in their entire profession by writing a teenage movie, the idea of kind of honing in on that element was really exciting to us. I mean, not disregarding the rest, but really using that as kind of a jumping-off point for the film.”

It’ll be interesting to see how “drastic” this reboot actually will be and if they’ll attempt to bring back the spirit of the original 1980s cartoon or taking more of a modern spin on the Turtles. 

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Netflix Announces ‘Usagi Yojimbo’ CGI Animated Series Titled ‘Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles’ – Produced By James Wan

Today, it was announced that Netflix will be making a new CGI animated series titled Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles based on Stan Sakai’s beloved Usagi Yojimbo comic book series. The streaming service will be teaming up with Gaumont and James Wan’s Atomic Monster.

The character also famously did crossovers with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and was part of their toy line.

88 Pictures, who previously did the animation for Trollhunters will be working on the series.

Below is the official press release.

Netflix and Gaumont announce new comedy-action CGI animated series Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles based on the globally successful 35-year-old comic book, Usagi Yojimbo, from award-winning creator Stan Sakai. 

The series takes place in the far future, set in a world that mixes modern high-tech images with classic Japanese references. It follows the teenage Rabbit Samurai Yuichi, descendent of the great warrior Miyamoto Usagi, on his epic quest to become a true samurai. But he isn’t alone! He leads a ragtag team of misfit heroes – including a roguish bounty hunter, a cunning ninja, an acrobatic pickpocket and a faithful pet lizard – as he battles depth-charging moles, metal-tipped winged bats, and monsters from another dimension, all in the pursuit to become the best samurai Usagi! 

The series is produced in partnership with Stan Sakai, the legendary creator, writer and illustrator of the comic-book series who will serve as Executive Producer, along with Gaumont (Executive Producers Nicolas Atlan, Terry Kalagian, Sidonie Dumas and Christophe Riandee), Dark Horse Entertainment (Executive Producers Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg and Chris Tongue), and Atomic Monster (Executive Producers James Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett). Candie and Doug Langdale (Maya and the Three, The Book of Life, Puss in Boots, Niko and the Sword of Life, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness) are attached as executive producers and showrunners. Ben Jones (Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teen Titans, Iron Giant) is Supervising Producer while Khang Le (Big Hero 6, Little Big Awesome) will serve as Art Director on the series. 

Mumbai-based 88 Pictures (Trollhunters, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, Fast & Furious Spy Racers) has been appointed as the CGI animation studio. 

The acclaimed comic series has received a number of awards over the last three decades, including Parents’ Choice Award, an American Library Association Award, and the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Award. Usagi Yojimbo has also been named on Empire Magazine’s Top 50 comic-book characters of all time, IGN’s Top 100 comic-book characters of all time and Rolling Stone’s Top 50 non-superhero graphic novels. Sakai is a six-time Eisner Award winner, the recipient of multiple Haxter Awards, and won the Best Cartoonist Harvey Award in 2016.

SOURCE: NETFLIX