The Next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Movie Is a Live-Action, R-Rated Last Ronin Adaptation

We might be preparing to see the latest take on the TMNT head to screens again with a sequel to the incredible Mutant Mayhem in 2026, but it’s not the only turtle power we’re going to see on the big screen: the seminal comic miniseries The Last Ronin is coming along for the ride, too.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Paramount is planning a live-action adaptation of the 2020 IDW comic series, set in an alternate future where only Michelangelo is the last standing member of the team, vowing to finish his brothers’ mission of dismantling the Shredder’s legacy once and for all as he takes on the dystopian forces of Shredder’s grandson, Oroku Hiroto. Tyler Burton Smith, who co-wrote the upcoming brutal Bill Skarsgård film Boy Kills World as well as the 2019 Chucky movie Child’s Play, will pen the script.

The Last Ronin—based on an old story by TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and adapted by Eastman with Tom Waltz—has proven to be a fertile source for inspiration since its successful miniseries run. It’s spawned multiple comic continuations that see a new generation of ninja turtles rise up, as well as plans for an upcoming video game. A live-action movie, especially one leaning into the darker elements of the story, is a sharp turn from Paramount’s approach with Mutant Mayhem, but at least the studio is letting the two co-exist—as well as the upcoming 2026 sequel, we’re getting an animated series set in between the two movies, Tales of the TMNT, some time this Summer.

We’ll bring you more on Paramount’s plans for TMNT and The Last Ronin as and when we learn them.

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