…And the world continues to end!
Word out of the Latino Review crew has it that CLASH OF THE TITANS director Louis Leterrier (right) is being courted by New Line to bring Brian K. Vaughan’s superb graphic novel Y: THE LAST MAN to the big screen. Wait a sec, did New Line even see CLASH OF THE TITANS?
Oh, I kid Leterrier. But it does seem an interesting courtship considering the paltry reviews of Louis’ latest effort, not to mention his very recent rumored attachment to Marvel’s THE AVENGERS (word is that flick is on hold due to an imminent merger between Marvel and Disney).
Y: THE LAST MAN has been in development for years, at one point having Shia LaBeouf and DJ Caruso attached to star and direct. David Goyer also set up the project like 7 years ago before it finally fell limp in development purgatory.
But enough of the bureaucracy. Let’s (re)introduce you to what Y: THE LAST MAN is all about, shall we:
On July 17, 2002, something (referred to as a plague) simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome — including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm. The only exceptions appear to be Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey, Ampersand.
Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse, and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of the men, their survivor guilt, and the knowledge that – barring a rapid, major scientific breakthrough or other extraordinary happening – humanity is doomed to extinction. Brian K. Vaughan crafts the new society that emerges from this chaos, from the conversion of the Washington Monument into a monument to the dead men, to the genesis of the fanatical ultra-feminist Daughters of the Amazon, who believe that Mother Earth cleansed itself of the “aberration” of the Y chromosome, to male impersonators becoming valued romantically and professionally.
Pretty dark, dystopic shite, ay? Definitely keeping with the recent template of post-apocalyptic yarns, be it I AM LEGEND, THE ROAD, THE BOOK OF ELI, etc. etc.
So where does this one rank among the others? Have you read the graphic novel? You think Leterrier has the chops to adequately adapt it into a film? If not, who else would rather see direct?
Liv Tyler, star of Leterrier’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK!