The screen adaptation of Brian K. Vaughn’s critically acclaimed comic book is once again back in the news, with the announcement that Dan Trachtenberg is now attached to direct, replacing D.J. Caruso (Disturbia). Though this will mark Trachtenberg’s feature film debut, you might already be familiar with his work if you saw the frankly incredible Portal fan-film that hit the net last year (and given that it garnered over 11 million views, there’s high chance that you did!). Y: The Last Man – an epic tale revolving around a mysterious virus that suddenly kills every male on the planet, bar one (and his monkey) – is still in the hands of New Line Cinema, who have been trying unsuccessfully to get the project off the ground for many years. One of the major sticking points must surely be the complication involved in condensing a 60-issue story into one cohesive 90-minute narrative. There was a lot of talk about a trilogy of films early on in its development, but the risk that the first might not score enough box office to warrant the other two is a huge. The story, as brilliant as it is, just doesn’t scream franchise potential in the same way studios are accustomed to. 

With the success of comic book adaptation The Walking Dead, why New Line just doesn’t go back to the original idea of doing Y: The Last Man as a TV show is baffling. It’s the perfect medium for a story this large. 

We’ll have more news on Y: The Last Man as it develops (if it develops). In the meantime, you can revisit Trachtenberg’s excellent debut film below…

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