A Live-Action R-rated Ninja Turtles Movie, The Last Ronin, Is in the Works

John Nguyen

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a popular franchise with comic books, movies, animated shows, toys, and more. One of the recent popular projects was The Last Ronin comic book miniseries, becoming a New York Times bestseller and was second place on Circana BookScan’s Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels in 202. The comic follows the last surviving Ninja Turtle on the path to avenge the death of his family and friends.

During CinemaCon 2024, Paramount Pictures announced to the crowd of theater owners that it is working on a live-action, R-rated The Last Ronin movie. This marks the first time we’re getting a live-action film since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows in 2016. In addition to it being a live-action film, it will also have an R-rating, making it the first film in the franchise to be made for a mature audience.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was an animated film that was released last year, receiving positive reviews from critics and fans and making $180 million at the worldwide box office from a budget of $70 million.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin will have Tyler Burton Smith as the co-writer, who also worked on the brutal Boy Kills World film starring Bill Skarsgard.

Attached as the producer is Walter Hamada, the former president of Warner Bros. Pictures for DC-based film production. He is producing with his 18hz production company.

About The Last Ronin

“Springing from a lost 1987 storyline by TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, The Last Ronin tells the story of a sole, shrouded Turtle in a dark possible future, undertaking a seemingly hopeless mission to obtain justice for his fallen family and friends.”

The Last Ronin story continues with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years, a miniseries that follows the protagonist’s past. The first issue is now available on IDW, with the hardcover releasing later this year at comic shops and on Amazon.