New TMNT movie gets a writer and director!

[Raph's Girl]

From Gamerz Edge:
http://www.gamerz-edge.com/news/articles/032805Turtles.html

Can't get enough of the Turtles? Kevin Munroe is going to give you more.

Imagi Services President and CEO Tom Gray announces the signing of Kevin Munroe to write and direct a new CGI-animated feature-length Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will ramp-up their booming revival with an animated film that will take advantage of new technology developed since the last Turtles film was released in 1993. Now in pre-production, the film is targeted for U.S. release in spring 2007.

Kevin Munroe has done extensive animation work during the last decade including video games, television series, and original comic books. He has worked in developing both the writing and design of animated projects for companies such as Disney, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, WWE, Fox Kids, The Henson Company, Kids WB, Dark Horse Entertainment, IDW Publishing and Nickelodeon. Besides working in all aspects of production design and storyboarding on shows such as Nickelodeon’s “Hey Arnold!,” Munroe also created, wrote, produced, designed, and directed the CGI Christmas special “Donner” for ABC. His projects have been optioned by Walt Disney Feature Animation, Stan Winston Studios, and Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment in addition to co-writing another Imagi feature, Cat Tale. Munroe’s writer/director deal was negotiated by Gray and Alan Grodin of Weissmann, Wolff, et al., and Brent Weinstein of UTA.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have enjoyed over 20 years of success in the U.S. and around the globe. Having shot to mainstream popularity with hit TV series, top grossing films, number one selling toys and enduring comic books, the property has generated over $6 billion in revenue. The first of the three live-action films grossed $135 million domestically, setting a seven-year box office record for independent releases. Today, the new hit TMNT TV series is in its third season with a fourth set to run through 2006 on 4Kids TV (formerly Fox Box) and the Cartoon Network in the U.S. In addition, the show is broadcast in major markets throughout Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia.

The new TMNT film will be produced by Tom Gray (who guided the first Turtles trilogy through production) and Galen Walker of Imagi. Executive Producers are Francis Kao, Gary Richardson, Frederick Fierst, and Peter Laird, who co-created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Kevin Eastman. The picture deal was conducted by Gray and Walker of Imagi, Grodin of Weissmann, Wolff, et al., Richardson of Mirage Licensing, and Fierst of Fierst, Pucci & Kinder.

Raph's Girl note: And he's cute too! :P

[ZariusTwo]

Tom's back huh? At least Pete likes to work with familiar faces

[manny]

i want to know if the story will be good and whos goin to be april oneil

[Raph's Girl]

As the movie won't be coming out till spring 2007 we have 2 years to find out who's gonna be who. They just got a writer/director so it'll probably be a couple months before they start casting people

Heck they haven't even cast anybody for the live action Transformers movie yet....So just give em time and we'll be hearing who's who in no time. :)

As for the story...something else we'll have to wait a bit for...

[KROW]

Wait. Is there anything to determine whether the film is going to be entirely CGI or feature live action actors with CGI turtles?

[zkarlette]

I just hope they pay at least a little attention on what the fans want and try to make a good movie not just a quick buck..

[Lioness-Goddess]

Me too. Of course, I'll go see it anyway. :lol:

[raphaelprime]

i think they should do what Don Murphy's done(the guy thats workin on the new live-action TF's movie). on his site's message board, they've been listenin to ideas from the fans, not sure how many ideas n inputs have been gone through with, but im thinkin Laird n them need to do that aswell, as seenin how i think most people here would rather see a live action movie(like the first 3) rather than a complete CGI.

[IceFlash78]

Hmm... I just had a thought.

In Japan, there's an popular anime named "Fullmetal Alchemist." I dont know if you guys have heard of it or seen it on Adult Swim. It has 51 episodes (I don't know why they stopped one episode short of 2 full seasons-52 episodes). Anyways, apparently this summer, a Fullmetal Alchemist movie will be released that will act as the "offical" 52th episode and the "finale" to the series.

What if.. confirming that this movie will be animated...Laird decided to do something similiar with the turtles? I mean... I would love it for the turtles to continue on tv forever, but maybe Laird would end his run after the fifth season and then "close" the series with this movie? I think that would be cool... Laird would have a chance to "end" his series the way he truly wanted it to end..

But..if the movie will be live-action with the turtles done in CGI, then what i just said above would probably be wrong... I just hope its not another origin story.. I think we've had enough of these...

[VaughnMichael]

I'm sorry to be such a downer but all I can say about this is Ugh....
I'm not to happy about this the toon is fine but lets leave the movie a real life thing.....I'm so sick of some crappy cgi guy coming into movies and taking over and over hyping himself where as if the company was smart like with peter jackson they would sculpt the character first then render it......
I'm allready so afraid for this movie.....and the only reason I'm bringing this all up is that I care a great deal for this property....& Characters...
I just hope this doesnt end up the pile of crap The Hulk is....
-Putrescent

[CyberCubed]

So, is this movie a live action movie like the previous 3 movies? Or is it ALL CGI?

[ZariusTwo]

I'm sorry to be such a downer but all I can say about this is Ugh....
I'm not to happy about this the toon is fine but lets leave the movie a real life thing.....I'm so sick of some crappy cgi guy coming into movies and taking over and over hyping himself where as if the company was smart like with peter jackson they would sculpt the character first then render it......
I'm allready so afraid for this movie.....and the only reason I'm bringing this all up is that I care a great deal for this property....& Characters...
I just hope this doesnt end up the pile of crap The Hulk is....
-Putrescent


...Hulk is'nt THAT bad :cry:

CGI, sadly, is what makes most animated films NOT called anime currently shine at the box office (or not in some cases), it's only natrual that the producers have to adapt to that Hollywood rationality to even develop this film

[Aztec General]

The Hulk was dreadful, but I fail to see why that dooms TMNT to failure?

[PizzaPower]

I hope the movie has all the voices from the new toon.

[ZariusTwo]

The Hulk was dreadful, but I fail to see why that dooms TMNT to failure?

Hulk is no Spider-Man, but I'd take it over s*ite like Electra any day.

The Hulk movie, however underated, sadly boasted horrendous CGI, which is what Putrescent is concerned about.

[d_osborn]

considering the director's experience, i'd say this is going to be entirely animated. no live action at all....

[Zachatello00]

so, have we even decided that this was real yet? Did any one hear official word from Mirage studios about this? Because we all know how easy it is to fall for crap on the internet.

[d_osborn]

well, there was the trade ad in variety last week that mentioned a CGI film in 2007....

[R-iZZy]

Nice! I can't wait that long though. :tsad:

[Spitfire]

Im still a bit ticked off it's going to be all CGI. As long as it doesnt look lik ethat piolet trailer for the old show...or A Scanner Darkly <_<

[LUCKFF]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v42/LUCKFF/jessika_gravel.jpg (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=2542)

CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE FOR DETAILS.

[GK Punk]

as a note, I will be merging all new threads about this subject in to this thread

[Spitfire]

You should just delete all the other threads and put anything useful from them into one big thread and pin it to the top of this section

[TheShowstoppa]

Now I'm really not happy. I like the old school live action. They could do so much more visually with live action and CG than they can do with just CGI. I'm still looking forward to the movie, but I'm nowhere near as excited as I feel I should be because this is a real letdown.

On another note, I think they need to keep the current voice actors as the ones they use for the movie. They're the perfect rendition of what they should be. I guess time will just tell...

[Mobius One]

considering the director's experience, i'd say this is going to be entirely animated. no live action at all....

Jeez, I am actually really disappointed by this news. I thought that Peter Laird said it wasn't going to be CGI. I will still see it if it is CGI, but I know for a fact that I will like it better if it were live action. Meh.

[Prowl]

oh yeah, now I remembered why I left this board. Silly me. Just Kidding, so I thought it was new news. I'm excited about this though.

[Zachatello00]

well, there was the trade ad in variety last week that mentioned a CGI film in 2007....
So in other words, no...

[Mandi-chan]

In Japan, there's an popular anime named "Fullmetal Alchemist." I dont know if you guys have heard of it or seen it on Adult Swim. It has 51 episodes (I don't know why they stopped one episode short of 2 full seasons-52 episodes). Anyways, apparently this summer, a Fullmetal Alchemist movie will be released that will act as the "offical" 52th episode and the "finale" to the series.

What if.. confirming that this movie will be animated...Laird decided to do something similiar with the turtles? I mean... I would love it for the turtles to continue on tv forever, but maybe Laird would end his run after the fifth season and then "close" the series with this movie? I think that would be cool... Laird would have a chance to "end" his series the way he truly wanted it to end..

I was wondering that too...I hope it doesn't end though ^-^! I love my ninja turtles! :D I hope this movie kicks ass, that it's up there with the X-Men and Spider-Man movies and not a flop like the Hulk (no offense to fans of that movie).

[TigerClaw]

I think a CGI film is a great idea, When doing live action, There not so much they can do when wearing those body suits, Unless, The film can be live action with FX done with CG of course.

[zkarlette]

The suits were awesome I still watch them and Im amazed :D

[Aztec General]

The suits were awesome I still watch them and Im amazed :D

Well for the first movie anyway. The 2nd, 3rd, and NM costumes were increasingly hideous and downright disturbing. Oh yeah, and I'm leaving out the Christmas Special costumes :dead: !

[zkarlette]

I meant the first movie and the second movie in which I think they had the best faces ..........but the third movie shouldnt even be mentioned :dead:

[Krutch]

I dont mean to alarm anybody but.... have you seen the crap this company puts out? Any of you guys see Donner? It was one of the worst looking and animated things i had ever seen. I found a trailer for it for those who are curious as to what this CGI team is capable of...

Donnar trailer (http://neu.loonland.com/upl/01058712833.mov)

See what i mean? It looks worse than the CGI Pilot they had out a few years back. Im sorry i dont sound optimistic but this news really saddens me.

Now if it were Pixar, that'd be another story...

[GK Punk]

You should just delete all the other threads and put anything useful from them into one big thread and pin it to the top of this section

Thats a great Idea! I'll start doing that from now on :)

[jgbfan13]

its not coming out till 2007 lets wait tol see images or a story till we start to hate on it. you never know, it could be great. besides guys, we are getting a brand new ninja turtles movie to see in theaters, it what we have been waiting for for 12 years.

[Aztec General]

I dont mean to alarm anybody but.... have you seen the crap this company puts out? Any of you guys see Donner? It was one of the worst looking and animated things i had ever seen. I found a trailer for it for those who are curious as to what this CGI team is capable of...

Donnar trailer (http://neu.loonland.com/upl/01058712833.mov)

See what i mean? It looks worse than the CGI Pilot they had out a few years back. Im sorry i dont sound optimistic but this news really saddens me.

Now if it were Pixar, that'd be another story...

Laird had said in a previous interview that he doesn't like the "realistic" CGI like in Final Fantasy. He prefers a more cartoony CGI.

[Raph's Girl]

From Veriaty.com:

Animation vet Kevin Munroe has been tapped to write and direct a new CGI-animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" pic for Imagi Services.

Producers hope to take advantage of the new momentum the pizza-eating, evil-fighting reptiles have gained since they launched a new syndicated TV series three years ago.

"Turtles," which debuted in the 1980s in comicbooks created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, were last seen on the bigscreen in a trio of live-action pics from New Line in the early '90s.

Imagi prexyprexy-CEO Tom Gray, who produced two of the earlier "Turtles" films, and Galen Walker are producing. Laird, Francis Kao, Gary Richardson and Frederick Fierst are exec producers.

Currently in pre-production pre-production, pic is targeted for release in spring 2007.

Raph's Girl note: pizza eating??? Have these people even seen the new series??? The only time we've seen them eat pizza is in flashbacks! :ohwell: And look! It's in pre-production pre-production! :lol:

[Krutch]

Toy Story and The Incredibles are cartoony, but they look great. That Donner animation had jerky animations, bland colors and it just looked ugly. Beast Wars looks better than what these guys put out. And thats how many years ago. This animation reminds me of the Donkey Kong series that was out a while ago. I hated the look, feel, and flow of it. Im sorry. Maybe i should jus stop being negative and jus give it a chance...

[Lord Nightwalker]

Whoa. This is the legit news I take it... Well, Honestly. I would have loved to see a live action CGI hybrid like AVP And Underworld, as far as creature effects go. Look at the stuff they did in League of Extrodinary Gentlemen and Hellboy. We have the tech today to do this and do it very well and that's what I would have liked to see. But..I like animation features too, so I'll give it a chance. Idealy, The would figure a way to do both kinds of projects. THAT would be good. And a few novelizations.....

[Zachatello00]

Okay, i'm officially buying this story now that superherohype.com is advertising for it.

[Barkworm]

Toy Story and The Incredibles are cartoony, but they look great. That Donner animation had jerky animations, bland colors and it just looked ugly. Beast Wars looks better than what these guys put out. And thats how many years ago. This animation reminds me of the Donkey Kong series that was out a while ago. I hated the look, feel, and flow of it. Im sorry. Maybe i should jus stop being negative and jus give it a chance...
That "Donnar" movie was a TV production (I believe it aired on ABC). It's impossible to compare this to a high budgeted theatrical movie.

[Krutch]

True, but even on a TV budget it can show how ur basic animation skills are...

I'll stop bashing it. I should be happy for what i get. I wonder if they're gonna make Shredder an alien or not in the movie?

[Lord Nightwalker]

Okay, i'm officially buying this story now that superherohype.com is advertising for it.

LOL. SSH...oh man. You know they get handed false reports all the time right? Like the doctored Bat pics that made the rounds last summer...lol. You never know though. They eventualy get their stories straight.

[Zachatello00]

Heh heh. I guess it's hard to read sarcasm in a post. I wasn't serious. I'm waiting for official word from on high (ninjaturtles.com)

[R-iZZy]

I'm not so disappointed in a CGI movie. To be quite frank, I'm going to accept whatever they give. I mean, I've waited for over ten years for a new TMNT movie, and to know that the turtles have had enough stardom to get another movie deal is satisfaction enough for me. I'm here to support the guys, no matter what. We don't want another TMNT absence! If this movie is successful (which I will do all I can to make that happen), then I know the turtles will still be afloat in the business!

I don't doubt that they'll do a good job! I'm easily impressed, and that goes the same for a lot of others. I understand everyone wants a quality movie... and I'd love for them to make a live action movie, continuing from the third movie... but we finally got our boys back! As long as the franchise is still showing signs of life, I'm cool with it!

[Krutch]

So its by Rainbow Studios, the same people who did the TV Pilot?

Come to think of it, it did have some good fluid animation, especially the bo fight on the plank and he brawl on the moving truck. I just really didn like the way the turtles looked in it. If they look the way the "CGI FILM in 2007" poster percieved them as, it should have some promise.

I think im finally calming down about this. :)

[BigThew]

can't wait for this

[Leonardo Mystic]

Just thought I'd mention this, in case no one has seen it yet, but chances are a good handful of you may already have. Mirage has confirmed the movie is for real. It's official. You can see it in black and white at the official TMNT website under today's updates.

[Zachatello00]

Finally, a word from on high! I can now officially whoo hoo the news.


WHOO HOO!

[marleynaki]

i dont know if anyone put this link but : american dream comics (http://toynewsi.com/article.php?itemid=6783)

[Karpo_007]

Yeah there is a separate thread for the interview alone in New TMNT... Maybe all these threads should be combined to one big movie thread.

[Ra]

i don't care if this movie is in CG or not. all i care about is that finally a movie will come out after all the damage TMNT 3 had done! WOO HOO! *dances madly*

[The Stryker]

I really hope the tone of the movies is less, How do you say, Happy?

Sure you can have funny and stuff but if you handle it in a lower tone (Evil Dead and X2) you can create characters that come off as loveable and not goofy.

Just make NY look good not Idealized like Spider-man

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Judging by the poster, and this (http://www.gamerz-edge.com/news/articles/040705Turtles.html) interview. I'd say this movie is likely to be AWESOME!

[marge]

well, sincerelly, i think i'd prefer a live action movie, but, after thinking about it ,a CG movie may be not that bad....

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Well I prefer cel animation myself (but not from the show), but this CG is looking good! :D

[Aztec General]

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0453556/Ss/0453556/iid_920945.jpg?path=gallery&path_key=0453556

The above link is a cleaner version of the image. You can actually see Leo's eye in this one.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Ooh! looks great! :D

[Leonardo Mystic]

Oh, wow. :teek: Sweeet. ^_^

I want to save it to my computer, but the site won't let me. *cries* It's mocking me.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Well, here it is!
http://www.studio-snowlion.com/images/tmnt-movie.jpg

[Leonardo Mystic]

OMG! :teek: You don't have any idea how grateful I am to you now for this. *bows* Domo arigato.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

No prob! :)

[Usagi'sChick]

YAY! Like everyone else here, I freaked out when I heard the news in my email. :)
I'm glad to see it's not another re-make of their origin, and to hear that the director has been a fan himself since the beginning, and the movie will be based on early Mirage comics. :D
Even if the CGI animation isn't awasome, the quality of the story will hopefully make up for it.

[Zelda]

AHHHHHH!! I'm SO excited for this movie!!! Everything I read and see about it looks fantastic! :tthumbsu: :tthumbsu: :tthumbsu: :tthumbsu: :tthumbsu: I really REALLY want to audition for it, but I only know how to find stage casting calls...no idea about movies...so I've just been emailing everyone connected with it whose contact info I can find and hoping for the best >_> I used to practice acting with lines from the first movie XD reinact scenes in my room and I swear I started acting because I wanted to be in a TMNT movie even though I thought that'd be impossible since it'd been so long since the first three.

But audition or not, it will be EXCELLENT!

[Pink]

Yep, about time, they got a remake with the potential to be even more closer to the original essance. Which I though the first movie did the best job of capturing so far.

[AquaParade]

Same here. I hope the shredder looks awesome.

[Hannah]

OH MY GOD O_O I *just* noticed this thread. At first I was pissed about the CGI thing, worried that if it was crappy then I wouldnt be able to prove to the retards at my school (almost everyone) who hates TMNT that they're pretty awesome. But, after seeing the poster, and finding out its based off the early comics, THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~dies happy~

[Zelda]

After a bunch of searching and some followup emails after lack of reponse, I got in touch with someone involved in casting but she said that if I didn't live in LA/wasn't famous that the chances of being cast were practically nill because they've had TONS of people in LA read and a lot of them have been so good they're having a hard time deciding who to choose but they begin recording on Tuesday so the choice will be made soon and announced soon after.

[IceFlash78]

Same here. I hope the shredder looks awesome.


No offense, I haven't heard if the Shredder is confirmed in the new movie or anything, but I wouldn't want theh Shredder to come back... I mean, he already "died" in the first and Super Shredder was defeated (and I personally believe, was killed) in the second movie. I think they should do "City At War" storyline or do something different other than the old "TMNT vs. Shredder" storyline.

[Kenton]

No offense, I haven't heard if the Shredder is confirmed in the new movie or anything, but I wouldn't want theh Shredder to come back... I mean, he already "died" in the first and Super Shredder was defeated (and I personally believe, was killed) in the second movie. I think they should do "City At War" storyline or do something different other than the old "TMNT vs. Shredder" storyline.


But isn't it supposed to be based on the EARLY mirage comics? And not another sequel?

[IceFlash78]

But isn't it supposed to be based on the EARLY mirage comics? And not another sequel?


Hmm.... I had heard that it was going to be a direct sequel to the first movie, while keeping some aspects of the second movie in continuity...

[Kenton]

I am sure I read somewhere about it being about early mirage comics :| I think it may have been on these forums actually.

[Weapon X]

I'd like to have an all new movie based on Mirage not some "Sequel". Like Batman Begins did with the Bat franchise.

[Jaf]

As far as I'm concerned, CAW IS early Mirage stuff; heck, it was published more then a decade ago! (Not to mention, the global politic situation of today would render CAW all the more pertinent, but that's sligthly off subject...)

I wouldn't mind the movie to star Karai instead of Shredder; I love old Saki, but it would be hard to do something really new and based on the comics with him in the portrait (he could be in some flashback/introduction sequence...). Some people would be disapointed, but this movie is aimed at a large public, not just the hardcore fan base. And it would be cool to see something which proves to said large public that there is more to the turtles then «fighting Shredder». There's so much great characters and stories in the Mirage universe that this movie could use.

Besides, I WANT Shadow in it!!! :D

[Kenton]

After reading that first issue and seeing how gruesome and brutal it was I can't wait for this movie. Especially if it is based off of those comics. I want to read more, more I say!

[Shreddette]

I'm worried.
I just want Saki to be in it, and if he is they better damn well design him up to par or I just won't watch it. All the other versions were depressing enough I don't need more disappointment in my old age.

Sigh.

I'd also like to think that Saki, in the first movie, didn't die at the end. All ya saw was his helmet. Of course for some reason I also thought Joker might have survived that fall in the first Batman movie but he never returned.

rrarrgh *aggressively tugs at old school Shredder with her teeth like a dog with it's favourite chew toy*

[Star Wolf]

I don't mind GCI, but it has a bad habit of producing bad, or underachieving movies, like the Incredible Hulk.

Maybe this will be the movie to break the curse, or maybe it will fall victim to it. Only time will tell.

[link12345]

i hope the movie is as good as the show

[AquaParade]

To be honest, I hope the movie surpasses the show, but either way I'm sure I'll
enjoy it.

[1989 Shredder]

I going to see it looks good