'Pete's Dragon' Director David Lowery Would Like To Make A 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie'

David Lowery makes movies that feel very hand-crafted and personal. Even when he made the leap into big-budget territory with Pete's Dragon, he didn't make what felt like a big studio movie, he made a David Lowery film. The Disney remake wasn't $150 million summer movie, but Lowery doesn't appear opposed to directing one of those, especially if it's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Below, the director behind A Ghost Story discusses Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and more.

david lowery ninja turtles

When you think of who should direct a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, the director of Ain't Them Bodies Saints probably isn't the first name that comes to mind, for a plethora of reasons. For starters, his new movie is a meditative drama about time and death. Not material that screams talking, pizza-eating Turtles. Then again, there was a sense of childlike wonder to Pete's Dragon that suggests he could bring some fun and awe to a world of talking Turtles.

In a very good piece from Uproxx, Lowery mentioned he would make a Ninja Turtles movie (probably under the right circumstances) and his cherished memory of The Secret of the Ooze:

I would do a Ninja Turtles movie ... I thought Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was the best movie ever when that came out. I went back and watched that and I was like, oh man, I feel so bad for my parents for having to sit through this three times with me. I bought the soundtrack on cassette ...

No doubt now a collector's item, that soundtrack on cassette. As for his thoughts on the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he wasn't a fan of the tonally jumbled and flat 2014 reboot, but he did have kind things to say about the superior sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows:

The second one actually felt like a literal recreation of the cartoon. It was so true to the cartoon. Even with Krang flying away at the end, saying, 'I'll be back' – like shaking his tentacle at them. It was so goofy, but I liked it.

It is actually good, innocent and goofy fun. While the first movie is a push and pulls between a kids movie and something more for teens, Out of the Shadows is more confident and sure of its audience and tone. It's silly and unironic in a charming way. Hard to imagine Lowery making a movie as goofy, but I bet his vision for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie would be something else. It's a movie we'll never see, but his interest in the Turtles shows he's a filmmaker with a wide variety of taste. I love that he's open to material this far removed from his past work.

A Ghost Story, which you should see, is now in theaters. Lowery's next film, The Old Man and the Gun, is due to arrive next year.