Heroes in a Half Shell Return
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are celebrating their 25th birthday today, and in recognition of this they're going to light the Empire State Building green tonight. As if that wasn't enough, it's finally been confirmed that the turtles are, in fact, going to get another live action film. It's hard to tell whether this is good news or bad.
Peter Laird, one of the original creators, is going to be a producer on the film, which is slated for release in 2011. There is talk of the filmmakers using the same kind of CG technology that was used on Where the Wild Things Are. Variety also tells us this:
Legendary Pictures former chief marketing officer Scott Mednick is producing the new pic alongside Galen Walker, who produced the 2007 computer-animated TMNT pic, the most recent installment in the franchise. Peter Laird, Gary Richardson, Frederick Fierst, Eric Crown, and Napoleon Smith III are exec producing the film, which is based on the characters created by Laird and Kevin Eastman.
The Tribeca Film Festival will be screening the first film tonight, so for any of you in the area with a hankering for some good old fashioned TMNT time get your tickets. Variety also reports new technology might mean some changes to how the turtles are rendered:
Laird, who bought out Eastman's share of the property several years ago, said the film will remain true to the spirit of the original comic books. He added that the pic may employ face replacement technology, which would allow the turtles to be much more expressive.
Are there enough fans from the '80s of the Ninja Turtles still wanting to pay for tickets to yet another TMNT movie? The 2007 animated movie was solid, if altogether too cartoony and not violent enough. Let's hope the new film turns the knob up to eleven.
Source: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
