The day the Turtle became a cartoon marketed for little kids was the beginning of the end for them. For those that have seen and read the old Eastman and Laird stuff I think you'd agree with Peter's wish. A darker, grittier, more adult TMNT could be taken seriously and could be really good. Ahh, well, what do you do?

the ninja turtles live action movies were a staple of my childhood

Growing up in the 80's I loved the cartoons, but later discovered the comics. I don't think they can get too serious with a live active movie.. remember guys they are human sized turtles. Heck when they were brainstormed up from a joke to begin with.

The first movie still stands as the best mutan turtles movie ever concieved. I'd like to see a true sequel to it. And that cgi movie was stupid shit.I can't believe people give that a pass. Why was it made? What continuity was it following? It has no place.

Uhm... "Shellalicious"? They really used that word?

@Superman - I actually really enjoyed the 2007 TMNT movie. The CG was exceptional considering the time and budget, and the fight scenes were truly entertaining. I believe it actually followed the most recent cartoons continuity.

The Ninja Turtles is one of those classics that I grew up with. Like the Transformers, they have managed to stay current with dozens of different incarnations. I'm really excited to hear about a potential live action movie, but also very scared. Does anyone else remember the 'live action' television series they did a few years back? With the chick turtle?? Yeah.... we don't need that. I know it's not the 'dark and gritty' world of the original comics, but the creators knew the changes that would be made many years ago when they signed those contracts. I like the turtles as they are... there's a great nostalgic aspect to it. LOL my son loves the last movie and plays it continously. When my friends are over we actually all laugh and talk and compare which turtle we liked and why. I don't know if I wanna loose that...

It's gonna suck, period

i bet it will be photo realistic animated 3d with the new tech close to what James Cameron is using for his new film avatar.

i bet it will be pretty cool

OMG! OMG! Yes! I'm a huge fan of the turtles and this is going to be awesome.

if it is going to be CG they should just do another CG movie. I loved the original movies but would rather see a full cg again than something that might look like garfield or the chipmuncks.

CGI or live action, this will be better than The Whackness.

@Greyson "CGI or live action, this will be better than The Whackness." that's the truth.

the first turtles movie is the best and would probably be considered dark still today. i want to see if they can pull off that old style again. turtles III sucks.

how can you compare this to the whackness lol?

I dug TMNT. Story was a little schlocky (I haven't watched that much of the more recent animated series but I understand that that sort of sci-fi tone is pretty common, so I won't rail against it as "going against the typical Turtles movie story") but, as has been said, the animation and performances were all phenomenal.

A new live-action film would be interesting. I think it could really be great, too. It doesn't need to be as dark as the original books but to the level of the first live-action film? And sprinkle in some more ambitious action sequences (totally realistically possible, now, with a mixture of animatronic suits and CG)... that movie could really succeed. I'm envisioning something with a tone like IRON MAN -- you could delve into personal, meaningful, weighty stuff without having to turn it into a brood-fest but also without compromising the themes of the Turtles.

I love the TMNT, but idk how I feel about this. The CG movie wasn't that bad, I'm not a big fan of the ancient monster story line, but I think it had a good idea with the turtles. Though if its in the same continuity of the past Turtle movies that might be a bit weird. I mean live action to CG and then back to live action. I kind of feel like they should do a rebot of the movie series. Pull an Incredible Hulk. The old movies are ultra cheesy and pretty bad in retrospect even though they were big as a kid, but they could make the turtles pretty sweet with today's technology. Make it dark, but I understand they wont make it too dark. Oh and involve the Shredder, lets be serious, the Turtles don't have many other great villains (at least for me, I don't like the alien and monster plots).

Isn't it funny that everything needs to be dark and gritty now?

@krackajap

Too much "sugar" spoils the appetite.

These days you'd have to be crazy to throw the kind of money required to make decent puppets at a TMNT flick. I love the Turtles and I loved TMNT, but I'd bet money that "live action" only refers to the world they interact in and the human characters. I'll still see it and most likely enjoy it, though.

At least we'll see a return of Shredder! (see the ending of TMNT for more details)

"These days you’d have to be crazy to throw the kind of money required to make decent puppets at a TMNT flick."

Guillermo Del Toro does it. Granted, he is on another level, but studios that can create puppets are thirsting for this sort of thing.

I think you overestimate the cost.

I agree, I do not want to see CG turtles.

Yeah, keep it light. I like the tone of the originals but just make it more contemporary. You cant take talking mutant turtles too serious.

i never really thought about the prospect about an eastman/laird influenced tmnt movie. now that you bring it up, i think its the best way they could reboot this excellent franchise. having a darker and more dramatic tmnt emphasizing the turtles' group dynamic as well as the individual characterizations and how they co-exist would be fantastic. put all that in modern day new york city where diversity thrives more than it ever did, and i think you have a good foundation for a solid film concept.

the idea of bringing in the tmnt of eastman/laird lore to develop a film is quite compelling for me, as the turtles played a pivotal role in my childhood. doing what nolan did with the dark knight with the teenage mutant ninja turtles would be fucking incredible.

never was a big fan of the turtles. Just a tad bit far fetched for my liking.

JT
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com

TMNT is past it's time

slow news day?

This franchise got too long in the tooth. They missed so many windows to really make this a very cool concept. But they always went with the "safe" tv version. Which always sucked to me. If they were smart they would have had it resemble the comic versions and hired a japanese animation house to do an animated film based on the same material. Was never a fan of the live-action films either.

The creators keep beating this horse into the ground and there isn't anything left in it. Just let it go already.

i'm sorry but i just choked on my coffee everytime i read that a "darker and grittier" take on a franchise could make them "better".

yes the eastman/laird version was gritty, but is that what we really need right now? ANOTHER grim "superhero" movie?

TMNT can only be good if it has rape and child-killing in it.

it doesnt say live action any where... maybe they changed it... any way i didnt like the cg one only the first live action one.

So when is /film going to announce that Kevin Smith is going to be on the next podcast.

So long as Vanilla Ice is back, I'm there!

It's "Shellacious." Shell + Hellacious. You need to master your Shellology.

Not another TMNT movie ... :(

More TMNT, just keep it full CGI

Put Nolan at the helm of TMNT!

I love the turtles and I think if they did as well as they with the first one, the second one could be cool!

I think it's interesting, seeing this division of the fanbase. The TMNT have come in so many different interpretations, that people seem to have difficulty liking the franchise as a whole.

When I first saw the previews for Dark Knight, I thought it was going to be terrible. I thought Joker was going be this random, messy, whacked-out homicidal maniac. I was wrong, and that is currently one of my favorite films, for the attention to detail among other things.

I enjoy the idea of someone challenging themselves to create a scenario in which talking mutant turtles COULD be taken seriously.
This is what Frank Miller did with Dark Knight. People used to laugh at a guy running around dressed up in a rubber batsuit, until someone came along and made him badass.

I would love to see someone do this with TMNT. I think it can be done, and done well. It just takes some effort. I think if they were to take the "city at war" arc of the comics, we would have some interesting material there. Perhaps mix in some themes from the more serious guest comics, like "The River" series.

I think I would prefer CG turtles in a live-action background, along with some nice puppeteering, to the rather cartoony full CGI. (The 4th movie was gorgeous from an animation perspective, but you're not going to get "grittyness" from it.)

Alot of people say they liked the 1st TMNT movie, and I think part of that has to do with the slightly more "depth" storyline, and the fact that (I beleive) it was one of Jim Henson's last films, so the puppets were of decent quality. (OMG the Splinter puppet!)

And that's my two cents. You can turn almost anything serious and interesting if you put enough effort into it. Like I said, as a writer, I would love the opportunity to take up that kind of challenge.

its not about making it "darker" its about going back to the Original story. just like batman, they went back to the original story.
maybe Frank Miller should direct next movie since TMNT where parodied on Daredevil and Ronin. or Del Toro. The next movie need a director who can make humanoid terrapins who have mastered the arts of Ninjutsu credible, and make it look like it could happen

if u guys dug this CGI then u havent been watching "real" CGI. many of japanese manga is doing this 5 times better since last 5 years. look at Macross for instance. TMNT cgi is too edgy and slow in comparison.

as a true TMNT fan, i would like (really like) to see the turtles come back in their suits in a LIVE action film. that would ROCK! but from the looks of it , it seems unlikely.