Michael Bay Rebooting 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'

Once more with feeling! We're going to get another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, this time a live-action update of the popular comic book/TV/toy line heroes. The first batch of movies was in the 1990s, then a really uninspiring animated film came out in 2007. Great trailer for that one; it just wasn't much of a movie. Platinum Dunes will work on the film with Nickelodeon, which bought the rights for $60 million at the end of last year. You might think that's a lot, but the four movies combined made about $400 million, and sure, the biggest percentage of that damage was done by the first film in 1990, but they all made at least twice their budget, and only the third live-action flick failed to triple its costs. So there's certainly evidence they can make money again. Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form will produce for Platinum Dunes, known primarily for its horror remakes, though this isn't too far a broad jump outside what they normally do: Take a proven property, add hot chicks and bunch of color contrast to the cinematography, and never invest more than $40 million. I do question the live-action element of it that Deadline mentions; it seems to me that CGI, especially with the upcoming Planet of the Apes reboot that will use that technology exclusively to eliminate cheesy looking costumes and makeup, might be the way to go. Maybe the CGI will enhance a live-action production. I could see that. Just no costumes for the Turtles. There's no word on when it might happen, but probably 2012. Dunes isn't a huge production company, anyway, and it's already committed to the upcoming Fright Night remake, as well as another Friday the 13th, the update of Monster Squad, and that movie about the Ouija Board. So that's a lot to push to the side for this film, which is so far behind the others in development it might as well wait its turn. Excited? Nonplussed? Angry? With the diminishing returns from the live-action series that began 20 years ago and with a fairly pedestrian run in theaters with the animated film three years ago, I'm not sure this will do much more than what the current crop of Platinum Dunes movies do: Big Friday night, then a precipitous decline.

Comments

[Orinn]

there is more then enough good material, to make a good movie, but in the end it will just be a money grab and so long as they follow the rules listed here, it will work out for them.

[LOSTY]

yay!!!!! i love the turtles!

[chad]

seriously michael bay is bout to ruin my other favorite thing from my childhood the turtles? dude colin you have to help how do we get michael bay fired from this movie asap ? pleaseeee you gott help me this is like the only other movie ive really gotten excited bout other then prince of persia and michael bay is ruining them both... if he touches power rangers im kicking him in the clavicle

[Honz Brix]

Why is Michael Bay ruining Prince of Persia for you? He has nothing to do with it. Jerry Bruckheimer is the Producer and Mike Newell directed.

[UWE BOLL!]

Pfft! Michael Bay... They should've hired ME to do this film! I'd serve up heroes on the half shell with some REAL turtle power!!!!

[chad]

i gotta make a correction i kept sying michel bay but he left the project early it was jerry brockheimer who i kept seein in interviews. i swer those two look alike michael bay and jerry. anyway stand by wht i say but that was my bad, good job hon catching that

uwe...you suck lol jk
i know its a joke btw lol

[nickro]

Man I don't know I loved the first 2 movies in the series especially the first one, which to me is still a good movie even today. Michael Bay is a douche though and will probably just do it up big just like he did with transformers, make it look crazy, pretty and with lots of action. It'll be entertaining but in the end the movie will be lacking.