It’s being reported by Deadline Hollywood that Platinum Dunes, the studio behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street reboots, has been brought in to produce the new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie currently being developed.
Platinum Dunes is of course the company owned by Transformers and Armageddon director Michael Bay, as well as producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form.
In April of 2009, The Mirage Group made the announcement during the 25th anniversary celebration of Ninja Turtles that a brand new live-action movie was on the way. Mirage had brought us the decent (but just not the same) computer-animated TMNT before this, but nothing was more exciting than the thought of something closer to the original movies made in the early ’90s. Even better — it sounded as if this movie could just be the darker toned flick we’ve begged for over the years, based on Turtles creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman‘s original comics.
Those plans got shaken up a bit in October of 2009 when the announcement was made that Mirage had sold every ounce of the Ninja Turtles franchise (rights to films, merchandise, everything) to Nickelodeon for $60 million. Though this was an big sale, the plans were still there to make the new movie along with Paramount Pictures (sister studio to Nick through owners, Viacom), but nobody was sure where it would go.
Which is where we stand now. We have the promise of a new live-action Ninja Turtles movie. We all desperately want it to be based on the original darker comics and get at least a PG-13 rating, but it’s now owned by a network known for their children’s TV shows and films. Now, just to make things really wacky, a production studio that thrives on graphic, hardcore R-rated (though not always well-received) horror films in Platinum Dunes has been brought in to make it.
This is where I say “you can’t make this stuff up.”
So what do you think? Is there any chance this will work? Can we hope that this new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles falls somewhere in the middle?
Wow, way to ruin my day, Movie God. No matter if they go G, PG-13 or even R, there’s little doubt in my mind that with Michael Bay at the helm, it’ll suck.
Comment by Vinnie Rattolle — May 28, 2010 @ 8:55 am
I’d be interested in seeing how a PG-13 film would turn out. I loved the the TMNT when I was younger but I never really followed the comics, so a darker toned incarnation would be totally new to me.
Comment by Demonstrable — May 28, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
[…] Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes To Produce Live-Action ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ […]
Pingback by COL Movies — June 1, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
This movie could either be really good or it could suck majorly. I was always a fan of the original movies, as well as the cartoons, so naturally, I’ll see this one, although, here lately Michael Bay has been bringing crap to the table… 3 words.. NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET?!?!? Hope for the best, but expect the worse.
Comment by Blookah — October 26, 2010 @ 2:55 pm