You can almost hear Michael Bay getting irritated as he types this — the producer/director has weighed in once more about the various controversies (I use that term lightly) over the new live-action version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yesterday we heard the title might be simply Ninja Turtles, and now Bay has confirmed that title via his own forums. Read More »
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I’m beginning to think that Michael Bay and his cohorts at Platinum Dunes are brilliant marketers. We’re more than a year away from the release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film that Bay and Dunes are producing, with Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans) directing, and there have been headlines about the project every day for the past few days. What was viewed as a weird reboot project with an unlikely creative team has turned into something that many people are talking about, even if the conversation right now is generally negative.
It started when Bay said the Turtles are “from an alien race,” which caused an uproar amongst fans. Now just about everyone who could chime in has, from the original TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, to various actors involved in the franchise in the past, all the way down to Bay and Liebesman.
Now there is a rumor that the film is simply called Ninja Turtles, and that the characters are also not teenagers. Does this mean there won’t be any marketing tie-ins with national pizza chains? Read More »
Controversy errupted when Michael Bay made a small comment about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action reboot he is producing. Bay mentioned that the Turtles in his movie are “from an alien race” which is a big change from the mythology we’ve come to know from the comics, cartoons, and movies released thus far. Bay quickly shot back by advising everyone to “take a breath, and chill,” asserting that he was “working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman individually came to Bay’s defense. Laird said “But I would actually encourage TMNT fans to swallow the “chill pill” Mr. Bay recently suggested they take, and wait and see what might come out of this seemingly ill-conceived plan. It’s possible that with enough truly creative brainpower applied to this idea, it might actually work. I’m not saying it’s probable, or even somewhat likely… but it IS possible.” Eastman responded, “I had been invited to check out the TMNT film development by my friend Scott Mednick over the years, and a while back had a full look behind the curtian at what writers [Josh] Appelbaum and [Andre] Nemec, director [Jonathan] Liebesman, and producer Bay are doing–and trust me–it IS AWESOME. I’m officially on board.”
Today director Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: LA) has surfaced to make some peace with fans and explain what is currently going on with the project, how they plan to shoot it, and what to expect. Meanwhile, TMNT co-creator Peter Laird has come back to clarify his previous pro-Bay comments, saying he hates the idea of intergalactic Ninja Turtles. All this and more, after the jump.
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Posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 by Angie Han
At the start of this week, Michael Bay pissed off Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lovers everywhere by revealing that the new Turtles film, which he’s producing, will see the central characters reimagined as aliens rather than mutants. Predictably, a firestorm ensued, and even more predictably, Bay responded to the the outrage by stating that “fans need to take a breath, and chill.”
“Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story,” he assured them. That “original creator” is Kevin Eastman, and Eastman’s now making it known that he is indeed behind Bay’s vision 100%. Read his comments after the jump.
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Posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 by Angie Han
On Monday, the reveal that the new, Michael Bay-produced incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would see the characters reimagined as aliens rather than mutants sent fans into a frenzy of outrage. Bay quickly shot back by advising everyone to “take a breath, and chill,” asserting that he was “working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story.” Now co-creator Peter Laird has spoken out, and what do you know, he agrees with Bay. To an extent.
Laird took to his blog to respond to the “turtles as alien” controversy, advising fans to “wait and see what might come out of this seemingly ill-conceived plan.” More after the jump.
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Briefly: Yesterday a quote from Michael Bay surfaced in which the producer/director said that the Platinum Dunes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, produced by Bay and to be directed by Jonathan Liebesman, would feature characters that are “from an alien race.” Fans of the property flipped out a bit, but at the time Bay hadn’t taken to his own forums to respond.
Now he has, and his statement is about what you’d expect:
Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.
The new TMNT film is written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec and we know little about it, other than characters from the early issues of the comic series will appear, and Paramount has planned a Christmas Day 2013 release date. And while we’re on the subject, I’d like to direct you to this related Onion article.
Michel Bay is making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans nervous. Set aside for the moment any question about whether or not the turtles are anything people should be nervous about — if you’re going to make a movie about mutant turtles, that’s what they should be, right? But a recent statement from Bay suggests that he’s really making a movie about aliens rather than about turtles that rapidly evolve into bipedal creatures thanks to mutagenic ooze. Read More »
Before Michael Bay makes the fourth Transformers movie, he’ll get to film a story that he’s had in his sights for quite some time. Pain and Gain is a fictional account of a true story in which a group of ‘roided Miami bodybuilders attempt to execute a plan to kidnap a businessman, but find things going very wrong. Reference the subheading of the article that inspired the film: “They were local bodybuilders with a penchant for steroids, strippers, and quick cash. And they became expert in the use of a peculiar motivational tool: Torture.”
The cast already features Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Ed Harris and Rob Corddry. Now Bay has added the great Tony Shalhoub, who will play the target of the kidnapping plot, and model Bar Paly. Read More »
