That 'Y: The Last Man' Movie is Officially Dead Again

If a film based on Brian K. Vaughn's comic book epic Y: The Last Man is ever going to happen, it won't be any time soon. The project is officially dead once again after the rights reverted back to Vaughn and artist Pia Guerra, or so says Dan Trachtenberg who was hired to direct the film last year. He responded to a fan's tweet with this...

Not happening. But it's in trusted hands (the creators). RT @AndyWagnerActor: Any updates on your Y:TLM screen adaptation? #bigfan
— Dan Trachtenberg (@DannyTRS) September 25, 2014

This isn't much of a surprise as Vaughn said earlier this year he could be getting the rights back, and Trachtenberg revealed to Slashfilm that it actually happened some months ago. The film would have been based on the first two major storylines centering on Yorick Brown, who along with pet monkey Ampersand navigate a world where the male population has been completely wiped out. A film version of the series has been in the works for a very long time and this isn't even the first time the project has been shelved. D.J. Caruso had been planning his own adaptation that never got off the ground.

So does this mean Vaughn will try again with somebody else? Or perhaps tackle the project himself? Trachtenberg is doubtful...

Trachtenberg: "I’m not sure Brian will ever want to do anything more with it and I’m not sure that he needs to."

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Writers board Brian K. Vaughn's 'Y: The Last Man'

From 2002-2008 there was no better comic book anywhere than Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man. I think you could arguably call it one of the greatest comics of the modern age, a thoughtful, socially aware epic following Yorick Brown, the literal last man on earth left to fend for himself in a world full of women. The series dealt pretty extensively with gender identification issues, but also had tons of action and deep sci-fi elements. After a plague hits the planet, Yorick and his pet monkey are the only males to survive. A film adaptation has been on the table for years, and as Vaughn became more popular outside the comics world as a writer on Lost, it seemed more likely to happen. D.J. Caruso(Disturbia) was attached to direct at one point, with Louis Leterrier also expressing some interest. Shia Labeouf had been mentioned as a possibility to star, but turned it down because the role was too similar to what he'd been doing in Transformers. That still boggles my mind he thought something that ignorant. Yet nothing has happened, and the film has been on hold ever since.

New Line appears to finally be ready to get the ball rolling again, as THR reports that relatively new writers,  Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia, are in final talks to pen the script. The writers have some experience adapting comics before as writers of the Fox series, Human Target. Carl Ellsworth had written one draft of the script back when Caruso was on board, but now they'll be starting from scratch.

A feature film is the worst possible way to do this, with multiple story arcs spread out over the course of just a few years, each with their own unique insights. Maybe the execs at New Line will smarten up and see that Y: The Last Man would be better served on the small screen, ala The Walking Dead.

Now....who do we want to play Yorick? What about Agent 355?

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The Punch Drunk Podcast Episode #32: 9; World's Greatest Dad; Sorority Row

This week on the Punch Drunk Podcast....

-The world needs saving, and only a ragtag group of Chex cereal lookin' creatures can do it! We marvel at the beautiful world that is Tim Burton and Shane Acker's 9!

-Not that I would know, but being a Dad must be tough. Especially if your kid is a douchebag like in Bobcat Goldthwait's latest black comedy, World's Greatest Dad!

-DVD releases for the week, including two modern day classics finally hitting Blu-Ray and... are we endorsing a Matthew McConaughey film? What the..?

-Big time news on major casting changes to The A-Team; plus what's all this about an Indiana Jones 5?

-A bladed lug wrench; a hooded figure stalking a house full of smokin' hot sorority sisters. We pop our eyeballs back into their sockets long enough to review the shockingly fun, Sorority Row!

We hope you'll join us for another fun "hour" of movies, movies, movies, and other random geeky bits. You can find The Punch Drunk Podcast on Itunes or any other podcast directory, or you can subscribe to us directly here. Please send your questions, comments, complaints, praise, money, to punchdrunkcritics@yahoo.com!

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Shia Just says No to Y: The Last Man

Dude, f'real? In an interview with Superhero Hype, Shia Labeouf made it clear he has no desire to take on the role of Yorick Brown in a Y: The Last Man movie. His reason? The roles are too similar. Huh??

"You take Sam and you put a monkey on his shoulder," said LaBeouf of Yorick's sidekick Ampersand. "I don't know if it's that big a differential. It seems like he's the ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation again.

He added, "I'm not willing to make that movie currently, and may be too old to play the role by the time it does come around."

I'm not so sure Mr. Labeouf has read Brian K. Vaughn's classic series if he thinks the two parts are similar. Yorick is an extremely complex character, which he had to be given his situation as the last man on Earth surrounded by billions of women who simulataneously want to kill him and screw him. Sam Witwicky is just some dude along for the ride. His personality is still a blank slate, if you ask me. If there would be any similarity between the two characters on screen it would be because Labeouf is incapable of playing any role other than the one he plays in every single movie he stars in, whether that be Battle of Shaker Heights or Eagle Eye.

Frankly, I'm happy he doesn't want the part. Y the Last Man is arguably the best comic book series ever written, certainly in the pantheon of classics. If it ever gets off the ground it almost certainly will lead to a series of films that could stretch on for years. If I had my personal pick for the part of Yorick it'd be Ryan Reynolds. Maybe even Anton Yelchin. Two very different actors, I know, but I think they both bring more to the table than Shia ever could.

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