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Shia LaBeouf Takes Himself Out Of The ‘Y: The Last Man’ Equation
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The Movie God   |  @   |  

Y: The Last Man

In an unexpected turn-of-events, it appears that actor Shia LaBeouf is going to pass on starring in the feature film adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan‘s brilliant graphic novel, Y: The Last Man, as Yorick Brown — a role that he had long been rumored to be a lock for.

It seems like an eternity ago that we heard that a movie based on Y was on the way. Then it was announced that Disturbia director D.J. Caruso would be directing the movie, and that the then-budding superstar LaBeouf would be starring. All was good in the world then.

Since that time, LaBeouf has become one of the top young faces of Hollywood, starring in blockbuster franchises with Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This explosion of popularity has ultimately left a bitter taste in many a mouths and the once-perfect fit for Y: The Last Man suddenly didn’t seem so appealing anymore.

What’s worse than all of that is that Director D.J. Caruso became highly questionable after he helmed a second movie in Eagle Eye. Now, Disturbia and Eagle Eye are not terrible movies…but they’re not good either. Both are simply mediocre. The problem is: you look at those movies, and then you think about Y: The Last Man as created through those eyes, and it’s not long before one begins to realize that the purest of evil — that dreaded PG-13 rating — could in fact be a real, real possibility here. And if you’ve read Y: The Last Man, you know that would be right up there with Live Free or Die Hard and Terminator Salvation, if not even worse than them.

From Shia’s words, it doesn’t seem like he just doesn’t want to do it anymore, but more like he feels that he has played that role already as Sam Witwicky Transformers, and that he may have grown past the role. He then seems to solidify his exit from the role, but certainly leaves a tiny door open just in case he changes his mind.

You take Sam and you put a monkey on his shoulder. I don’t know if it’s that big a differential. It seems like he’s the ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation again.

I’m not willing to make that movie currently, and may be too old to play the role by the time it does come around.

When Shia LaBeouf was first mentioned for the role, I was personally ecstatic; I thought he was a perfect fit. But because he has become so big since then, a lot of that excitement has disappeared for me. I still think that Shia could be a great Yorick, BUT, he’s now played so many familiar faces, that those varius characters would begin to melt together and that can be really distracting. Yorick has to be a talented actor, but also a relatively unknown.

My main concern remains with D.J. Caruso. No offense to him, but I just think this is far past his level, and really needs to be handled by someone who gets this type of film and will respect the source material completely. Maybe that young fella, Zack Snyder, for example.

[Source: Wizard Magazine via ComingSoon]

7 Comments »

  1. See, that’s the problem with “elevator pitches.” You just get the meat & potato facts of the plot, but none of the nuance… none of the character stuff that would make an actor go, “I want to play THAT role.”

    Yorick Brown is nothing like Sam Witwicky. He is more than the circumstances of his adventure.

    Comment by NeverWanderer — June 9, 2009 @ 6:29 pm

  2. But Shia LeBeouf plays all his roles as the exact same character, so I’m having a hard time understanding what his problem is here…

    Comment by Dave2 — June 9, 2009 @ 6:47 pm

  3. sooo….neil patrick harris?

    Comment by tarsonus — June 10, 2009 @ 8:44 am

  4. This really makes me wonder about the script. Assuming LaBeouf even read it, I wonder what about it made him think he would be playing the same character as in Transformers.

    Comment by bill — June 10, 2009 @ 3:11 pm

  5. What the hell is with you guys and the PG-13 rating? It means the movie plays to a bigger audience with fewer “fucks.” What’s the problem? You should change this blog to “PG-13 Rating.” It’s obnoxious that you give such a damn.

    Comment by Smarmy — June 11, 2009 @ 2:51 pm

  6. smarmy, talk like ya know it. good job…now ya listening? ok, thought not. But here it is anyways, PG-13 is almost enforced now a days, because if you look at money made via theater tix sales, pg13 nets far more money (on average) and becasue of how many films a stuido has to put out in a year..they are semi forced into competing.

    Comment by tarsonus — June 14, 2009 @ 1:41 pm

  7. It’s me that offers the endless PG-13 ranting, not the site; and it’s mentioned so often because it’s really important to today’s movies. You may be one of the ones who just lays back and accepts it, but I’m sorry, I notice the difference in quality.

    Some movies just require a certain rating, and as tarsonus said so perfectly, it’s almost enforced these days in order to make more money. Some movies aren’t MEANT for a bigger audience — they’re meant for an adult audience.

    I’m someone who loves their fair share of movies of all ratings — and yes, that includes many, many G movies, so please do not act like it’s some sort of Nazi rating conspiracy. But when you bring me a franchise or property that is built on a mature, adult, R-rated content and then try and make it PG-13 to make more bank — you’re damn right I’m going to say something.

    It’s a shame that oh-so-many people just buy into this nonsensical theory that they “get away with” much more in movies these days. News flash: they do not get away with more, they just use CGI to make it more cartoon-like and acceptable.

    Comment by The Movie God — June 14, 2009 @ 10:50 pm

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