Platinum Dunes Steers ‘Turtles’ Relaunch
EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon have brought Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form on to produce Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the live-action film that reboots the film series launched by New Line in 1990. Bay, Fuller and Form will produce with Galen Walker and Scott Mednick.
The producers will begin meetings with writers in the next few weeks. The deal puts Bay in the center of two Paramount franchises, as he started production May 17 on Transformers 3, and is zeroing in on Rosie Huntington-Whitely to replace Megan Fox as love interest for Shia LaBeouf. TMNT, a co-production between Paramount and Nickelodeon, is an outgrowth of the $60 million acquisition made by Nick last October for global rights to the entire Turtles franchise. Right around the same time, Paramount made a first look deal with the Platinum Dunes partners, who will generate genre projects but also want to expand their scope. While they’ve already set up several projects including a Rob Cohen-remake of Fright Night, the Turtles film puts them into new territory.
COWABUNGA!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Srsly…
The CGI film that came out a couple years ago was supposed to be the relaunch of this series, and I don’t see why it didn’t harness the entire TMNT library of characters whilst doing so. The film ended up being mediocre, but could have thrived. CGI is the perfect means to bring these bizarre yet appealing characters to life, and the studio f’ed up. Or (to play devil’s advocate) audiences want a live action version of this wonderful nonsense. If that’s the case — and it seems to be — then I hope Bay stays true to the source material and includes not just the original characters, but their original villains. As someone who worked as a crew member on the fourth Indiana Jones film, the only advice I have to give is: THINK ABOUT WHAT THE FANS WOULD WANT!
The 2007 TMNT was never meant to be a reboot. The studio never secured the rights from Eastman, hence the title of TMNT. They couldn’t use ‘Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtles”. Bay & Co have secured the actual rights this time. But they will most likely fuck it up like they’ve done with every remake thus far. Maybe it’s time they hire actual writers for their films.
Uhm..no Imagi/WB/Weinstein secured the rights from TMNT creator Peter Laird, whom Kevin Eastman sold creative rights to years ago.
It also made almost 100 million international. and it only cost 30-something.
and the original villains… which one? they killed shredder in the first issue, then Raphael was shredder for a while… I’m not sure them fighting aliens that look like Triceratops is such a good idea.
Damn you Bay. Wasn’t Transformers enough to ruin, what’s next He-Man? Thundercats?
If he’s just going to be the producer I see a slight shimmer of hope.
Give us a comic accurate movie with none of that 80′s cartoon crap.
It’s time to go back to the roots!
Actually a new he-man movie is in the works lol
if it was a reboot why did it have so many references to prior films?
ill tell you why, IT WASNT A REBOOT
It wasn’t a reboot. It was supposed to take place chronologically between TMNT2 and 3.
As for DOING a reboot, I’m not against it but not really for it either. Star Trek did anawesome job reimagining the franchise, while at the same time being it’s own franchise at the same time.
The problem with rebooting TMNT is going to be tht the cartoon series literally jsut ended like a year and ahlf ago, so it is still quite fresh in everyone’s mind.
no, it took place after season 5 of the 2003 cartoon.
If it was chronologically between 2 & 3 then why can you see the TIME SCEPTER on Splinter’s trophy shelf? Pay attention, kid.
It would only work if they could use the literary device of the time machine as done in Star Trek. I doubt that, highly. Now if they go the way it seems it’s just going to “re-boot” and start over. Probably being more serious and focus more on the revenge story that was the original comics plot.
Here’s a valid question: Has Platinum Dunes ever found a property it couldn’t makeover with a slick, soulless re-launch? Everything they touch turns to mediocrity. Can’t wait to see the CGI budget on this one.
That totally tubuler dude!
Please!! Oh god! PLEASE!! Don’t CGI the ninja turtles do the same things as the old ones make them look real! Please! Go back to the old way no more computers especially in these movies
The CGI movie was crap.they made it too much for kids. The first two live action movies were the best. Hopefully they will go that route, and not make it anything like the CGI movie.
The second movie was ridiculously aimed at kids. Try watching it now as an adult. The first movie has a broader appeal, but parts of it definitely do not hold up.
Don’t forget it was TMNT 2 that all but eliminated any usage of their weapons due to criticism of the first movie that it was too violent. Even as a 10 year old I could recognize the BS.
Well to be fair, it WAS a kid’s movie.
Also, it was awesome.
I wish producers would STOP REMAKING MOVIES! Are you telling me that we are so desperate for material that we have to remake all of the classics from the past into modern films and try to capitalize on their name?
Give me a break. There are no talented movie directors anymore. No one has any original ideas and it’s all just recycled crap. Everything is just being “modernized” and most of it is garbage because the directors know that no matter how bad it really is, dumbass people will still pay $15 a pop to go see the new version of a movie they liked when they were younger.
Sort of like the Batman movies? TMNT is (or at least was) an ongoing comic franchise, not just some old movie to be remade.
Great, he ruins transformers, now TMNT.
(Hint to Bay: Transformers was supposed to be about the robots as characters, not a brain dead teenager and a porn queen. Also TMNT is about the turtles, not explosions and the pizza boy).
Agreed about the first two live action films. Man those were good times back in the day… so memorable.
NINJA, NINJA, RAP! NINJA, NINJA, RAP! NINJA, NINJA, RAP! GO! GO! GO! GO!