The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles looking serious while Leonardo holds a piece of paper in TMNT Mutant Mayhem
By
Zoe Miskelly
Published 37 minutes ago
Zoë Miskelly is an editor for Screen Rant's Superheroes team, and has covered Marvel, DC, and other superhero franchises in comic, movie, and show form for 8 years. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture.
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The plans for a R-rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie have received an unfortunate update that leaves the chances of us ever getting to see it looking less than stellar. While comicbook adaptations have received a major rise in popularity in the past decade or so, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have only lightly benefitted from this resurgence, despite being a key cornerstone of the comic ecosystem.
One of the most previously exciting prospects for the world of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was that of an R-rated movie adapting one of the franchise's most interesting - and most popular - comic runs, allowing audiences to see a darker take on the Turtles' lore. However, based on the most recent news about the project, it now seems as though the R-rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie might never come to fruition.
Plans For An R-Rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Are No Longer In Active Development According To The Latest Reports
Donatello (voice: Micah Abbey), Michaelangelo (voice: Shamon Brown Jr.), Raphael (voice: Brady Noon), Leonardo (voice: Nicolas Cantu) gathered in Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season 1©Paramount+/Courtesy Everett Collection
The newest report about plans for an R-rated movie adaptation of The Last Ronin - which would have made sense given the comic source material's darker nature and tone - unfortunately paint a less than promising picture for the project and hopes around it.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that, according to its sources, the "live-action/CG animation hybrid project that was in development has been put back in the pizza box." While this news comes with the caveat that one source did also state that "the studio wants to leave the door open to possibly revisit it down the road" - and that a new live-action TMNT movie is set to still be on the way - the R-rated project reaching a standstill reportedly thanks to its darker tone sets up a complicated picture in terms of whether it can be revived later down the line.
Of course, it's not impossible for franchises that largely release more family-friendly fare to delve into R-rated territory - as the MCU proved just a year prior with the release and success of Deadpool & Wolverine in the largely family-friendly Marvel movie franchise. However, these projects offer notable risks that studios often seem inclined to avoid.
Since an R-rated release in an otherwise family-friendly brand can run the risk of sabotaging its reputation with this broader audience, it's easy to see why The Last Ronin movie may have been considered something worth leaving for now to potentially follow up on later. That said, the state this leaves the project in for now is noteworthy, given how the landscape of the franchise may make following up on it later seem counter-effective to those who could give it the green light again.
The Trajectory Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Movies May Make An R-Rated Movie Harder To Make Reality
The Turtles looking worried in Mutant Mayhem
Following the divisive reception of TMNT's last live-action movie, having an R-rated reboot of sorts could have made a lot of sense in terms of resetting things with a decidedly different project that clearly would in many ways be the opposite of what came before. However, the franchise has already had its fresh start of sorts thanks to the stellar quality of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and the positive reception it garnered.
With Mutant Mayhem showing the beloved vigilante turtle team can still resonate with audiences in movie format - and with a sequel on the way and set to hopefully also repeat these successes - it makes sense that intentions may have shifted to focus more on this side of the market, especially since family-friendly animated movies have continued to be some of the highest-grossing films of the past few years.
The Hollywood Reporter suggests this is the direction for the on-screen side of the franchise going forward at least for now, with "multiple sources" stating that the intention is for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies to follow suit from Sonic The Hedgehog's film success, which would suggest R-rated installments may be off the cards for some considerable time to come - if not potentially impossible, depending on how things unfold.
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