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New Line Cinema Will Lose Y: The Last Man Rights If Shooting Doesn’t Begin Soon

It's truly baffling to think that in an age dominated by comic book adaptations, Y: The Last Man has been stagnantly gestating in the hands of New Line Cinema - even with a director attached. It was over a year ago that I reported Dan Trachtenberg, creator of the brilliant short film Portal: No Escape, had signed on to helm this ambitious endeavor, but since then, there hasn't been a single peep from New Line. No story, no cast, no production date - it's like the film froze last January and still hasn't been thawed.

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It’s truly baffling to think that in an age dominated by comic book adaptations, Y: The Last Man has been stagnantly gestating in the hands of New Line Cinema – even with a director attached. It was over a year ago that I reported Dan Trachtenberg, creator of the brilliant short film Portal: No Escape, had signed on to helm this ambitious endeavor, but since then, there hasn’t been a single peep from New Line. No story, no cast, no production date – it’s like the film froze last January and still hasn’t been thawed.

While Y: The Last Man fans have patiently, but angrily, waited for Yorick and his Capuchin monkey Ampersand to grace the silver screen, it looks like answers are finally in sight. It’s been almost a decade since New Line Cinema snagged the cinematic rights to Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s cult comic, and we’re now reaching a time where if New Line doesn’t start shooting a film they apparently intended to make ten years ago, the rights will revert back to both creators.

Here’s what Vaughan had to say in an interview with Comic Book Resources:

“It’s my understanding that the rights to ‘Y: The Last Man’ will revert back to co-creator Pia Guerra and me for the first time in a decade if the planned New Line adaptation doesn’t start shooting in the next few months, so I expect there will be some ‘Y’ news in 2014 either way.”

The options are pretty simple as of now. First, New Line Cinema can get their butts in gear, push forward hard with Y: The Last Man, and finally answer long-burning questions like “Who will play Yorick,” “When will the film be released,” and most importantly – “WHAT THE HELL TOOK SO LONG!” The other option? The rights revert back to Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra and we possibly get a film/television series scripted by the creator(s) themselves, especially since Vaughan created a successful series in Stephen King’s Under The Dome. Either way, 2014 will contain answers for all of you Capuchin monkey lovers!

On a serious note, Y: The Last Man has been begging for a film adaptation ever since the franchise was created – so it’s about damn time decisions have to be made. New Line Cinema had the chance to cash in on Vaughan and Guerra’s brainchild, and I can guarantee you they’ll be kicking themselves if the rights slip away. There’s a goldmine of unique apocalyptic material just waiting to be adapted cinematically, telling a story of the last male man and monkey left on earth, their discoveries, and the colorful characters encountered along the way. Time to nut up or shut up, New Line Cinema.

What do you think? Would New Line Cinema be crazy to let these rights go back to Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra?