Even as they are celebrating their 25th anniversary in a gala New York drive-in pizza party, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are coming back to the screen in a live-action film planned for 2011, it’s has just been announced.

The new movie will be a Batman Begins-style reboot, showing the origins of the team of crime-fighting mutant turtles. Legendary Pictures will be producing the film, and co-creator Peter Laird is on board as executive producer. Laird says that the new movie “will remain true to the spirit of the original comic books. ” Laird mentions that the new movie might also use a new face replacement technology, which would allow the turtles to be much more expressive. Unless I’m reading the statement wrong, I think this also may confirm that the turtles won’t be completely computer generated.


Created by two “aspiring comics creators” in 1984, TMNT remains probably the must successful self-published, creator-owned comics property of all time from a licensing standpoint, with periodic reboots keeping the franchise alive for new kidlet audiences, it would seem.

BTW, if you are in the New York area tonight, there will be a free screening of the first Turtles film.
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1 COMMENT

  1. The Turtles are kinda over. I don’t really see the point in yet another movie.

    I am, however, salivating at the prospect of watching the first one drive-in style.

  2. Drive-In style, on the river, with this forecast:
    Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 44. Northwest wind between 6 and 15 mph.

    Snuggle bunnies highly recommended (just like a real drive-in!)

    I like how (c)HUD is co-hosting the movie!

  3. I really like the Turtles. Of course, I was their key demographic when I was a kid and they hooked me: I bought the toys, watched the show, went to the movies, ate the cereal, and read the comics. In fact, the Archie series “TMNT Adventures” was the first comic I followed (then G.I. Joe and then Spider-Man, Captain America, Batman, etc.).

    And I still like to check in on them when I can by picking up a comic or watching a Saturday morning episode if I’m around a tv at the right time. What’s great about the Turtles is that their personalities are so distinct and their group dynamics so defined that they translate from medium to medium very easily.

    Someone who saw one episode of the cartoon from the 80s/90s can pick up a comic and understand who the characters are. They might not know the situation or stakes involved in the story or the continuity involved, but they’ll know the characters and can easily follow along. I’d say they are recognizable almost on the level like Batman or Superman.

    So I’m ready for another movie. And I think they have a great idea to do the Turtles & Splinter the way that Spike Jonze did the Wild Things of “Where the Wild Things Are.” A person in a big suit with a CGI face would look great; of course, I liked the old Jim Henson versions too.