What Would YOU Do?

[Bry]

In one of the many raging thread debates in the past week, amongst speculation and criticism, someone threw down the gauntlet and asked: “Well, who would you get to write and direct a Ninja Turtles movie? Huh? Huh, tough guy!?” [citation needed]

The box office results are far from settled yet, but based on Friday’s take and the weekend projections it looks like this one’s got about a 50% drop from the last movie. Assuming that’s how things work out, the idea of another movie reboot is sounding like a possibility.

Considering that, the question started mulling around my head until a few names bubbled to the surface. So let’s do that! Hypothetically assuming Paramount decides to start fresh in a couple years, who would you want to write and direct the next TMNT reboot?

My picks:

Writer: Douglas Petrie

He’s written a bunch of things, but I was introduced to him as a long-running writer/producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy was a very comic-booky show, one with great characters, genuine emotion, and a damn solid balance between drama, comedy, and action. More recently (and most importantly?) he’s a writer and current showrunner of the Netflix Daredevil series. And anyone who knows the TMNT’s history knows why this is so ideal. TMNT began as a sharp satire of the Frank Miller comics that Petrie has brought to life, so he’s someone that can be trusted to understand how that core of the TMNT concept works. Mix that and his “Buffy” sensibilities and you’ve got someone who could write a movie that’s true to the concept’s roots while also delivering a well-rounded experience that appeals to as wide an audience as possible.

Director: Stephen Chow

Chow has a terrific track record directing martial-arts action and comedy, and has developed a cult following and a lot of respect in the west. But maybe the experience of helming a major Hollywood release would be enough to hook him for this project.

For example: remember the Raph vs. Foot rooftop battle in the 1990 movie that’s still a franchise highlight? Well, imagine Raph in the opening part of this scene:



One of the major problems with the Platinum Dunes movies is they’ve forgotten the “ninja” in “Ninja Turtles”, so hiring someone who truly understands and respects (and is highly skilled at) martial-arts filmmaking is exactly what this property needs.

As an added bonus, Chow is also one of the most popular directors in China. Studios are vying hard for that market, usually by stuffing in as much explosive CGI spectacle as possible. But TMNT has a chance to stand out here, and hiring Chow could be a different, more effective way to tap into that market.

As for the production? Keep the budget relatively low: $50 million should be the limit. Learn from Deadpool and do as much as you can with that amount. That means you have to keep the action as “real” as possible and can’t rely on flashy, over-the-top CGI instead of a truly strong script and direction. This would work very well with Chow’s skills as a director, and would let them take more risks as they don’t need to recoup a budget nearly three times the size. (And it would also help save money for a killer marketing campaign.)

As for the Turtles, remember what worked in the first place — martial artists in suits. Save the CGI budget for motion-capture facial acting, and focus on making that look as realistic and expressive as possible.

That's mine. How about you?