Iron Man Screenwriters Hired To Write 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'

Paramount Pictures have finally announced screenwriters for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie which has been in development Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes. HeatVision has learned that Iron Man screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway have been hired to write the new movie adaptation. The screenwriting duo also has credits on Punisher: War Zone, and in development versions of Highlander and Buck Rogers.

You may recall that last year Nickelodeon paid $60m for global rights to the characters, and Viacom has been devleoping not only a new big screen movie but also a television series. Strangely, a recently leaked Paramount memo listed the project as "draft not looking great". They might have been talking about the previously announced John Fusco script.

Last year it was first announced that The Mirage Group/Legendary Pictures were developing a new live-action big screen movie reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Laird has previously confirmed that the initial discussions involved using "hybrid" ninja turtles:

As you may recall from some of my previous comments, our initial discussions regarding the next film had to do with what we were calling a "hybrid" — live action with realistic Turtles rendered in CGI and blended in. This new idea — which, frankly, I am VERY pumped about — will have actors and stunt performers in full Turtle suits for filming in live action. As of right now, there is talk of using CGI to do "face replacement" for the suits so that we can get those great, expressive faces possible with CGI.

The other ideas discussed were a "Batman Begins-style", retelling the Turtles' origin story. The film would probably include Shredder, April O'Neil and Casey Jones. In July they held an open casting call for Shredder's Foot Soldiers/Foot Clan. Laird has said that they are planning to return to the roots of the original comic book series, so it will be interesting to see what direction they go in. The image above certainly fits that dark and real style.

The movie was initially announced for a 2011 release date, which is looking more like 2012 or 2013 at this point.