Reporters at Deadline have learned that Nickelodeon are developing another feature film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. According to the outlet, the pic will be produced by Point Grey Pictures, a production company owned by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver.
The film, their report goes on to say, will be directed by Gravity Falls writer Jeff Rowe, and based on a script penned by Neighbors: Sorority Rising and Mike and David Need Wedding Dates‘ Brendan O’Brian. It will also be distributed by Paramount and contrary to previous adaptations, it’ll be completely CG rather than part live-action.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be Nickelodeon Animation Studio’s first CG theatrical production. In the past, the company has produced other computer-animated films, like Gore Verbinski’s Johnny Depp-starring western, Rango, but with the help of other studios.
Brian Robbins, ViacomCBS’ President for Kids & Family entertainment, had nothing but good things to say about the project. “Adding Seth, Evan and James’ genius to the humor and action,” he told Deadline, “is going to make this a next-level reinvention of the property.”
For those of you who didn’t grow up in the 90s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began life as a comic strip in the mid-80s and shortly after its debut, it was adapted into a number of animated shows that made Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo household names for kids around the world.
Nickelodeon bought the rights to the series back in 2012 and shortly afterward, it used these to produce a 3D animated show which, thanks to its lacklustre craft and uninspired writing, cannot begin to hold a candle to the ones made during the previous century. Let’s hope this new film will change that.