According to the Hollywood Reporter, pre-production has been shut down on the Ninja Turtles movie reboot. Staff involved with pre-production have been temporarily let go. The movie, itself, has not been cancelled, but has been moved out from December 2013 to a May 2014 release. A weak script is said to be the problem.

Considering the fan outcry that resulted when the revelation surfaced the Turtles would be aliens in this film, I cannot make myself seem surprised by this. It should be stressed that this has nothing to do with that fan outcry, but working with such a foreign concept to such an established brand could not come without it’s own challenges. Not to mention the stigma associated with Michael Bay and reboots, as his company, Platinum Dunes, is set to be producing the film.

This is the third film Paramount has delayed for various reasons. GI Joe: Retaliation and World War Z were both recently pushed out. The TMNT franchise was acquired by Nickelodeon in October of 2009. Nickelodeon and Paramount are both subsidiaries of giant media umbrella corporation, Viacom. The film was set to reinvigorate Nickelodeon after poor recent ratings. All parties involved still hope to accomplish that in May 2014.

Playmates has put together a surprisingly nice showing for their long time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license. They had a basic line of figures that matches up to the new forthcoming animated series from Nickelodeon, the new owners of the franchise. They also had a collector’s line that seemed very well received. To top it all off, Playmates had a massive new sewer playset that will be a sure hit for any kids whose parents can afford it.

To see all the details continue reading!

Image in banner from TheToyverse.com.
[Read the rest of this entry…]