Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures
A new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) movie appears to be in development.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a media franchise that was originally created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows four heroes in a half-shell — Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo — as they protect New York City from evil forces, with their biggest antagonist being the villainous Shredder.
There have been numerous TMNT movies, shows, comics, video games, and more over the years, with one of the most recent notable outings being the 2023 animated film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. A sequel to that movie is in the works.
What is the new TMNT update?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, producer Neal H. Moritz is now in talks to launch a brand-new live-action TMNT movie franchise for Paramount Pictures.
“The move occurs as the Skydance-owned studio is taking a magnifying glass to its slate and existing IP,” the article notes. “As opposed to some other titles, namely Transformers or G.I. Joe, Paramount fully owns the TMNT brand, having picked it up from co-creator Peter Laird in 2009, and it is seeking to fully unlock its potential.”
This will not replace Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2, as that movie is currently dated for September 17, 2027. It is worth noting, however, that the Mutant Mayhem spin-off show, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was recently cancelled after two seasons.
This will be the first live-action TMNT movie since 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, which was not a big hit at the box office.
A live-action/CG animation hybrid TMNT project based on the popular The Last Ronin comic series was also previously reported to be in development. The Hollywood Reporter’s article states that said project has “been put back in the pizza box” at this time.
“That project was being developed as an R-rated feature, and had Nobody filmmaker Ilya Naishuller in talks to direct, but the new regime wasn’t keen on having the first non-animated movie in 10 years be a bloody, adult-skewing story,” the article reads. “One insider says the studio wants to leave the door open to possibly revisit it down the road.”
