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Louis Leterrier May Pursue Y: The Last Man

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (13)

y_the_last_man.jpg

Here’s a project based on a graphic novel that I actually have an informed opinion on. Last year I went through a period, at the behest of some readers, to really honestly try to become a graphic novel reader. It didn’t take. I read some of the most celebrated, critically adored graphic novels in the universe, and I just couldn’t properly absorb the format. Y: The Last Man, ironically, was my last attempt. As I read Brian K. Vaughan’s series, I could definitely appreciate it, and I dug the ideas and the themes. Unfortunately, all I could really think was: “Man, this would make a great movie.” But as a graphic novel, I just couldn’t absorb it — my brain, sadly, just doesn’t work that way.

And now we arrive to the point: According to Latino Review’s source, Louis Leterrier is interested in directing Y: The Last Man, presumably picking up where D.J. Caruso and Shia LaBeouf left off, after they reportedly abandoned the project. At least that’s why I think Latino Review is reporting: Their source speaks in a way that I can’t fully comprehend (like graphic novels).

Is Louis Leterrier a good choice for Y: The Last Man? Well, I do know enough about graphic novels and movies in general to say: Absolutely not. Clash of the Titans looks like an empty popcorn spectacle, heavy on action, light on character. And Y: The Last Man, which certainly has its action elements, is better described as a (half) apocalyptic character piece. Granted, Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk was a decent character study, thanks in some part to Ed Norton, but it also underwhelmed, on the whole.

Point being: I don’t really trust the director of Transporter 2 with Y: The Last Man. He’s an action director, and Y: The Last Man deserves better than that. It also deserves better than Shia LaBeouf, so we can at least be thankful that he and Caruso have dropped the project. Leterrier, however, doesn’t represent much of an improrvement, nor have I any idea who he might attempt to cast as Yorick, though if I absolutely had to choose someone myself, I might go with Kick-Ass’ Aaron Johnson.









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Comments

It would be better for all parties involved (Fans, non-fans, and studios) if they just wait for the right guy/gal with the right vision for a project like this, and then turn it into a miniseries. Sure, a few side story-lines could be omitted, but too much of the plot ties together for so long I couldn't see this being made effectively into a 2 hour movie (or three 2 hour movies for that matter).

Posted by: danny at March 29, 2010 12:40 PM

And speaking of Kick Ass....Didn't you see that SXSW? Review, please.

Posted by: badalamenti at March 29, 2010 12:41 PM

The Incredible Hulk was NOT a "decent" movie. It sucked hairy balls from start to finish and was a waste of everyone's time. Ed Norton is a fantastic actor, but he's obviously a douche, and now that he's a Big Deal he decided he had a right to "contribute" "creatively" to that project and he royally fucked it up.

Posted by: Jerce at March 29, 2010 12:48 PM

If Shia Labouf got just ONE indie movie under his belt, I think he'd get a lot more respect around here.

Take Joseph Gordon Levitt. He, like Shia, was a child actor who made the transition into younger leading man. He, like Shia, has done absurdly stupid movies for a paycheck (see G.I. Joe). He, like Shia, is a passable actor with passable range (yes, I've seen Brick and yes I've seen Mysterious Skin, and no to your argument). If Shia had done a couple of indie flicks to pad his resume', I'd bet he'd get a lot more love.

Although, it's possible that no amount of indie flicks will be able to make up for the vine-swinging in "Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skullfuck." Trey Parker and Matt Stone got it right -- my childhood is defiled.

Posted by: superasente at March 29, 2010 12:53 PM

I remember seeing Shia LaBeouf in some indie movie. He played a poor teenager in NYC.

I remember not liking that movie very much but not much else. It was overwrought, to say the least.

Of course, the only thing I ever thought he was decent in was Holes, a well-done kids' movie.

Posted by: Wednesday at March 29, 2010 12:59 PM

I actually kind of liked Y, so I'd appreciate it if Shia LaBeouf was not in this movie. I don't hate him, I just can't take him seriously.

Posted by: kooling123 at March 29, 2010 3:09 PM

The indie mentioned above was A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, I believe. I watched it recently just to see if there was anything worthwhile about the beef or Channing Tatum, who is also in it. There isn't. They are both voids. The movie blows.

Kinda reminded me of Basketball Diaries, same sort of navel-gazing.

Posted by: Blair at March 29, 2010 5:10 PM

I'm reading Y right now. Much like most long-running graphic novels, I really don't see how anyone could effectively turn it into a film. For non-fans - Y: The Last Man is roughly five times as long as Watchmen, and Watchmen is what happens when you stick to the source material and try to get as much of it in a film as possible (I liked the film, but totally see why people who hadn't read the book hated it). I imagine Shia and Caruso planned to simply take the idea and re-work it for a fun two hour post-half-apocalyptic romp that would betray the intelligence of the material.

Oh, and I actually think Shia would make a pretty good Yorick. He would just need to be a bit more lovable than he usually is. Yorick has that kind of smartass charm, and usually throws himself into the action. I don't see Shia pulling that off based on what we've seen, but something tells me the right director could get it.

Anyway, enough rambling. The answer is the same as it usually is on stories like this: mini-series.

Posted by: Steve at March 29, 2010 8:21 PM

The big problem with Watchmen is two-fold. One, it's just plain old dated, feeding on the same kind of conservative, end of the world paranoia that V for Vendetta did. It no longer resonates with a modern audiences, because despite the fact that the movie did look modern and updated, it's still a story about the changes in the world from the 40's to the 80's.

Secondly, the book was reactionary to the crappy superhero comics that were predominant during the time, full of excess and bad writing, the world yet to embrace the darker stuff that Miller, Gaiman, and others unleashed. Watchmen has such less of an impact following a movie like The Dark Knight. They're similar in tone, but everyone knows the Batman mythos, not to mention you had A-list actors giving A-performances. Even if you got A-performances out of the B (and C) level actors in Watchmen, they just have less of an impact on the average audience.

Watchmen would have had a completely different impact if it came about 10 years ago, in the wake of schlock like Batman & Robin, and to a lesser extent Independence Day and Men in Black. Countering the levity and overly triumphant nature of those kind of movies would have certainly given Watchmen a more fresh, skewed, and undeniably different feel.

Anyway, a quick word on Y. Steve's spot-on by noting that a quick movie cut is going to kill the soul of the books. Y is really long enough that you have to stop considering it a "comic book". I don't like the connotations that usually come with the term "graphic novel", but Y's length certainly has more in common with a couple-hundred page book than a comic. There probably is enough there that you could make a movie, but the length of the story is what gave it depth and a greater purpose. You could sort of compare it to something like Mad Max, with a post-apocalypse that just continues to deteriorate over a few movies, but the action in Y just doesn't break down as easily as beginning--middle--end.

What should Y really be? It should be the next Lost, a really solid sci-fi tale grounded by simple characters, with a planned arc that takes place over a few seasons. Unfortunately, it's television, and no one on the major channels has the brains to pull this off (with someone like Abrams essentially gone from TV).

And finally, I'm sick of Shia. I made a complaint that Cusack is always Cusack in the HTTM thread, and Shia is the same kind of actor. There's no depth; he just plays himself, and the material has to fit him. He probably would make a good Yorick, but we've already seen him play the same character as Sam Witwicky and in Eagle Eye. There are plenty of actors who could play Yorick, and it'd just be a little fresher to get a new face in.

Whew, okay, now I'm done.

Posted by: D-Day at March 29, 2010 11:44 PM

Lost had a planned arc?

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.

Posted by: icecreammang at March 30, 2010 12:55 AM

Ooooh fuck me running I didn't even recognize I did that. God damnit. I think I had a specific part of the show I wanted to defend but no thats pretty retarded.

Put The Wire in there.

Posted by: D-Day at March 30, 2010 1:02 AM

I love Y. I love it with a silly passion. In addition to it being smart, witty, action-packed, and a "quasi-feminist vert sci-fi thing - very PoMo" book, it is long. It's like a well thought-out, evenly-paced epic. A movie, or even a trilogy of movies, would probably not do it justice.

Posted by: VinceNoir at March 30, 2010 2:04 AM

What should Y really be? It should be the next Lost, a really solid sci-fi tale grounded by simple characters, with a planned arc that takes place over a few seasons.

As much as I would love a TV show based on these novels, D-Day, I'm afraid that it wouldn't work out, with everyone being able to read the ending from the beginning. Not to mention that the ending is... undeserving of the beginning and middle.

I truly love this series, and should reread them soon, but I have no faith that a movie would be good enough. Doesn't mean I wouldn't watch it, and maybe even love it. Like a junior high student loves dry humping. It gets you there, but you yearn for something more.

Posted by: Patty O'Green at March 30, 2010 5:23 PM