Among the
many comic book adaptations gestating in
right now, Y: The Last Man has collected a bit more dust than most. Based
on the Brian K. Vaughn comic, the story of a young man who manages to survive a
virus that wipes out everything else on the planet with a Y chromosome was set
up at New Line cinema well over a year ago. Vaughn was set to write the screenplay,
and all seemed to be well…and then nothing.
But just
when you thought it was dead in the water, Y just got a serious jolt of life
courtesy of the creative team behind the spring’s out-of-nowhere hit Disturbia.
Director D.J. Caruso and writer Carl Ellsworth have jumped on board the Y:
The Last Man film, and as far as “what to do next” follow-ups go, it’s
a damn good one. It’s a young-skewing story with a built-in audience that plays
among the same thriller sensibilities as Disturbia. The only question is
whether this will be a partial reunion of the team or a full one.
While Disturbia
was certainly a well-made film, no small amount of its success was due to Shia
LeBeouf, and Y’s main character, Yorick, would be a natural role for the
wise-cracking and charismatic kid to own. But there’s the little matter of his
dance card getting filled up by one Steven Spielberg, who’s taken quite the
shine to the lad, and I imagine New Line would want to get things moving sooner
rather than later considering who’ve they’ve brought on board. Still, Spielberg
hasn’t officially signed Shia to
anything beyond the upcoming Indy film, so he may have a window available yet.
We’ll see.