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New Writers Taking a Shot at New Line's 'Y: The Last Man' Adaptation

by Alex Billington
March 14, 2012
Source: THR

Here we go again. Will this version make it to the big screen? For years we followed DJ Caruso's adaptation of the beloved comic series Y: The Last Man, which is in development at New Line (now part of WB), but unfortunately it fell apart a few years ago due to script problems. Now Heat Vision reports that its back on track, still at New Line, with a whole different set of writers and producers involved. I'm glad they're giving it another shot, but will these guys be able to do the comic justice (with a trilogy?) and satisfy the studio? TV producers-turned-writers Matthew Federman & Stephen Scaia are in final negotiations for a new take.

J.C. Spink, Chris Bender (of BenderSpink) and David S. Goyer (Ghost Rider, Blade: Trinity) are producing for New Line. Mason Novick is executive producing. Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia, known mostly for TV work but behind the new Zorro origin reboot at Sony, are apparently in "final negotiations" and are planning to "go back to the drawing board" adapting this. Y: The Last Man, a Vertigo comic series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, follows Yorick, an escape artist who is the last survivor of a mysterious plague that has killed every male mammal in the world. With his pet monkey, against an entire world of women, he sets out to find what wiped out the world's male chromosomes. We'll keep an eye on this version's progress.

Filed under Comics, Discuss, Movie News

From around the web:

Groov

I finally got around to reading this a couple years ago and it is as fantastic as I had always heard. We spend a lot of time talking about "unfilmable" projects but I think Y is ripe for filming. It's not that complicated of a story and would be a GREAT showcase for the fine female talent out there that usually gets relegated to being some poorly written love interest, just there to swoon over the hero. I hope they can get this off the ground and do it right.
- Lebowski
  
  I totally agree with you that Y is a superb property, but I just can't see the studios really accepting it verbatim. I mean a film with a singular male lead, and then a female supporting cast numbering in the hundreds? That sounds like an execs nightmare. Also, if you think about how the narrative is structured, it would be better suited to a miniseries.
  - peloquin
    
    I really love Y, it's by far my favorite graphic novel so I really hope they find a way to make it come alive. I actually always thought Shia Labeouf would've made a perfect Yorick back when Caruso was still on board, but Lebowski is right in saying that it's going to be the female roles that make or break a project like this. I'll be interested to see if they stick to the novel and hack off one of their boobs even though that would make it hard to market. Zoe Saldana would make a good Agent 355 I think.
elbow

It would work a lot better as a mini series.
- David Banner
  
  What I have always said, 1 or 2 seasons would do.
Darren

Some of the best news i've heard all day. I've read half the series but haven't finished it yet. Something I've got to get going on.
Guest

HBO series please.Or AMC.Definitely not Fox.
D Block

Y doesn't make sense as a movie. It needs to be an ongoing TV show on HBO or something.
- HoppipollaHippo
  
  YES TO THIS. It would be awful as a movie due to how much time that passes throughout the series. It would definitely be better suited as an ongoing series on HBO (won't have to censor the language, be more true to the source material) Each volume to 2 volumes could be a season. I even think a HBO or somewhere would be able to handle the type of budget it would need. Ampersand has to be a real monkey though, and jennifer carpenter as Hero.