Director D.J. Caruso's big screen adaptation of the critically-acclaimed graphic novel series Y: The Last Man seemed like the perfect vehicle for rising star Shia LaBeouf, especially since the two had already worked together on Eagle Eye and Disturbia. However, LaBeouf, rumored to have been offered the role of title character Yorick Brown, recently told Wizard magazine that the role is too similar to his Transformers character, Sam Witwicky:
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.
The "monkey" LaBeouf refers to is Ampersand, Yorick Brown's pet Capuchin monkey. In Y: The Last Man, Yorick and Ampersand are the only two mammals possessing a Y chromosome to survive a mysterious plague that sweeps the planet.
It's unclear why the film adaptation, originally scheduled to begin filming in the fall of 2008, has been delayed, but LaBeouf said:
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.
LaBeouf's next film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, opens nationwide June 24.