The Technodrome Forums - Peter Laird reacts to OotS' failure

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Peter Laird reacts to OotS' failure

From his TMNT Blog:

My question:

I don't know if the shelf life on this particular Q&A is already done, but I'll shoot one anyway.

With the new movie, "TMNT: Out of the Shadows" vastly underperforming on track by most outlets to barely squeak to 100 million domestically by the end of its run (well under its production budget, let alone the marketing budget which is very likely 100 million itself by general practices), it's very unlikely at this point any further sequels will be greenlit. It's done.

My question is: how do you feel about this? Are you happy that it is a failure (I know I am)? Are you ambivalent? It's the sum of all of my, and I suspect your fears... you know, "The Big Dumb Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang Movie™," as all of the marketing rests heavily on.

His response:

Andrew, it may be too early to justifiably and conclusively call the new TMNT live-action movie ("Out of the Shadows") a failure -- I believe it's only been out a week or so, as of this writing. Maybe it is possible, statistically-speaking, to make these kinds of judgements based on the existing numbers -- I don't have that kind of specialized knowledge.

(I should mention that I have not yet seen the movie.)

If it IS a failure, it's not entirely clear what made it so. Was it the look of the movie? The writing? The acting? The story? The effects? Casey Jones with a buzzcut?Something else? A combination of some or all of the above? Hard to say.

It might be possible to lay the blame -- or at least SOME of it -- on the filmmakers' decision to so prominently feature some of the goofier characters from the first animated TMNT series. As you might guess, if I were still in the position to make such decisions, they would never have been included. But that's just me.

While I have not seen the movie yet, I have heard mention that it is rife with crass and crude "comedy". Could that have something to do with its apparent lack of success? Are audiences getting weary of this kind of thing? Hard to say.

It is somewhat rare that I am "happy" that something is a failure, especially in the realm of movies. I know that a lot of dedicated people put in LOTS of earnest effort to make the movie they're working on the best possible movie that their efforts can make it… and all too often, such sincere efforts go to waste due to decisions made "at the top". I am loathe to wish failure on such folks and don't really think it's appropriate to be "happy" when such failure happens, except to some degree in those situations where such failure actually makes the world arguably a better place. -- PL

Well that's about as much as a response as I would expect. Although I must admit, him signaling out Casey Jones' buzzcut of all things was amusing.

His opinion is not really relevant tbh. That's like asking George Lucas what he thinks of new Star Wars. Who cares.

http://66.media.tumblr.com/009b650f0...wPl1qebdjs.gif

I mean, if for no other reason than morbid curiosity.

How is his opinion "irrelevant" if he co-created the damn thing? You might not agree with him, but I think his opinion automatically holds some weight.

Like, I don't really agree with George Lucas' stance on Star Wars, but I sure as hell respect his opinion and his right to state it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shark_Blade (Post 1594971)

His opinion is not really relevant tbh. That's like asking George Lucas what he thinks of new Star Wars. Who cares.

Very true, they can ask is for his opinions on that stuff, and it will not reflect on the property, since he no longer has the rights to it.

He only hates Bebop and Rocksteady, but a large majority of the fans say otherwise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bry (Post 1594978)

Absolutely.

What Peter Laird refer to as goofy characters, I see them as fun characters.

TigerClaw and Shark_Blade's opinions are irrelevant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB (Post 1594960)

It is somewhat rare that I am "happy" that something is a failure, especially in the realm of movies. I know that a lot of dedicated people put in LOTS of earnest effort to make the movie they're working on the best possible movie that their efforts can make it… and all too often, such sincere efforts go to waste due to decisions made "at the top". I am loathe to wish failure on such folks and don't really think it's appropriate to be "happy" when such failure happens, except to some degree in those situations where such failure actually makes the world arguably a better place. -- PL

Classy dude!

I'm not sure why fans are saying that his opinions don't count. We're all fans here... he's one of the creators that ran the franchise for almost thirty years! I think it's VERY interesting to get his thoughts on what's going on with the property.

I love the ASK PL threads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToTheNines (Post 1594991)

TigerClaw and Shark_Blade's opinions are irrelevant.

pretty much this!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToTheNines (Post 1594991)

TigerClaw and Shark_Blade's opinions are irrelevant.

You're opinions are irrelevant too. :P\

In fact a lot of opinions that's been going around here have been irrelevant around here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigerClaw (Post 1594981)

He only hates Bebop and Rocksteady, but a large majority of the fans say otherwise.

The same large majority of the fans who apparently didn't go to see this movie?

Peter may have opinions on the current state of TMNT, but he should be happy that its still popular today.

be thankful that the thing you create is still relevant today, when Nickelodeon bought the property and created that series, its more popular then ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigerClaw (Post 1594999)

Peter may have opinions on the current state of TMNT, but he should be happy that its still popular today.

be thankful that the thing you create is still relevant today.

Even if what it currently resembles is the very antithesis of it? A constant reminder that with you no longer there to right the ship, the property in just about every medium is doing the exact opposite of everything you fought so hard to prevent?

I dunno... I doubt it. Maybe on some level.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigerClaw (Post 1594999)

You have such a simplistic view of everything.

TMNT is not more popular than ever either.

Isn't Peter Laird getting a cut of the revenue that TMNT is making?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigerClaw (Post 1595003)

Isn't Peter Laird getting a cut of the revenue that TMNT is making?

Now? Not at all.

I'm with him about not being happy about something failing. That should never be an outcome. That just makes you a dick if you are... even a competitor failing shouldn't be good news to one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninjinister (Post 1595005)

I'm with him about not being happy about something failing. That should never be an outcome. That just makes you a dick if you are... even a competitor failing shouldn't be good news to one.

If this was some art film or labor of love of somebody, sure. It's not, on any front. It's just a $ recipe boiled together by studio executives trying to maximize profit, placing toy revenue paramount while targeting the lowest common denominator the whole way through.

The only people to feel bad about in any of this is guys like Amell, and maybe the Turtle cast themselves. They didn't know what they were getting into.