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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Why the TMNT Fail at the Internets



It probably wouldn't take too much effort to find a person still convinced that Johnny Woo was, at one point in time, signed and secured to make a TMNT movie. About five years ago I tried to convince a friend of mine that there was absolutely no truth to this, but I don't think he ever fully believed me. Someone asked Kevin Munroe, director of 2007's TMNT movie, the same question at San Diego Comic-Con in 2006. Really, it's the damnedest rumor that just refuses to die. He essentially said it'd be a neat thing to do, but there was nothing more to it than that. No different from me saying that it'd be neat to race Michael Phelps on a big wheel.

But this prevailing rumor also punctuates a key problem with TMNT fandom. Try as some of us may, there is no definitive "Go To" site for a person with a casual interest in TMNT to go to and quickly catch up on the latest news. Those of us who follow it closely know that Steve Murphy's word via The 5th Turtle is good as gold, but from an outsider's perspective, it's just a simple Blogger blog using a default template (same as this site). There is no TheForce.Net or TheOneRing.Net or The-Leaky-Cauldron.Org equivalent.

But sites that report on everything related to movies need to be at the top of the rumor mill, so if there's going to be a new TMNT film, they can't miss out on reporting it. It usually happens like this: Murphy or some other source drops a tidbit of information, discussion on said information partakes at TheTechnodrome.com, some lame lurker emails a dozen movie sites with the "tip," and these sites post the information as if it's some big scoop that they have personally discovered. Oooh, impressive.

Over the past several months there have been several hints dropped about the on-going talks for the next TMNT movie from both Steve Murphy and TMNT co-creator Peter Laird. Did any of these statements reach sites like IGN.com? No. But a few days ago discussion starts on The Technodrome regarding a comment TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman made on the HeavyMetal.com message boards regarding the possibilities being discussed for the next movie (which is pretty much in line with everything he stated here, and which is also all in line with what has been hinted at by Steve Murphy and Peter Laird). Now some morons are spreading the comments, to the point where Perez Hilton (you're kidding me, right?) is reporting it as FACT that a new TMNT movie is coming and THIS IS HOW IT IS.

FOR THE RECORD:
  1. Movie discussions are still in progress and nothing has been finalized.
  2. A live action movie is being discussed as a possibility but, again, nothing has been finalized. According to Murphy, live action is apparently NOT being discussed, so there you go.
  3. When something has been finalized, the information will be released officially by Mirage Studios and their partners, not a message board, no matter who is making the comment.
Oh, and all of you non-TMNT sites: Please stop pretending you know anything about Ninja Turtles, because you don't and it just makes you suck more. If you really want to do something useful, try to convince your readers to convince Warner Brothers to release a Special Edition of the original 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on DVD. Thank you.

16 comments:

  1. ROSE CONFIRMS! SHE RACED MICHAEL PHELPS ON A BIG WHEEL!!!! YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

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  2. Hell yeah! And there had better not be any doubt about who won!

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  3. Here, here!

    Yesterday a friend told me about the "news" of a new TMNT live-action movie. I told her that it must be the rumor which was unintentionally(?) spread by Playmates a few weeks ago. But she said it was just on Oh No They Didn't! yesterday. So I checked, and it turned out to be the same "news" posted on Kevin's site.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. I must admit I had even reported on the live-action movie news rumor on my blog(Media Monkey Ninja-mediamonkeyninja.blogspot.com). Unlike the other sites, I apologized for my stupidity of reporting on something that wasn't official, after read the post on The 5th Turtle blog. I pride myself on bringing my readers official news, but I dropped the ball on this one. I too am Ninja Turtle fan from way back starting with the original 1987 cartoon series. My blog is about media franchises in general, so if you want to. Could you help me out with the TMNT movie and TV news. I don't want to make the same mistake twice. You can contact me through Blogger.com. I too use Blogger.com, just as you and Steve Murphy do. Thank you in advance, if you do want to team up.

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  6. -->> ..news reported on Mikey's just had the tag THIS CAUGHT MY EYE

    (( If Mr. Perez .. as in Mikey Perez would check HIS OWN NEWS Blogg SITE >;p .. .. ))

    ..just state dthat tho' i did add a disclaimer later.

    Been doing this f7cking TMNT News hound sh7t since 2002 .. and it ain' easy !! :/

    So .. i like your points that there is ZERO ' THE FORCE NET ' = for Turtles.. so i do my dambdest to scour EVERY SINGLE GODDAMM PLACE I CAN FOR EVERY FEED, GOSSIP, LEGIT COMIC, TOON , MOVIE, TOY NEWS AS I CAN !!


    AND IT IS MADDENING !!

    No .. like

    MOTHER f8ckin'g pull your hair out of your skull and stick your f8cking tounge in a light socket maddening !! .. ok

    I ain' .. so ..


    anyway ..

    Mike's news get's so - so traffic i guess.. thing is .. i keep it as up to date as i can.

    And that's my only excuse. Sometimes.. i f7ck up .. but i gotta allotta non- TMNT sh8t on my plate too ..so ..

    ;/


    anyways.

    >v<

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  7. Kevin Eastman or someone posing as Kevin Eastman on the Heavy Metal Forum is where it all starts. Had responded to someone thread and posted that there were talks with Warner Bros. about a live-action sequel to 2007's TMNT. I saw the post with my own eyes on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at about 3 am est. The forum handler said Kevin Eastman and this is what is read: Yes, it is true. Although the CGI film did well enough to warrent a sequel, there has been much talk between Imagi and Warners to do a better "re-invention" (newest Hollywood buzzword) of the TMNT's, in a live action film--like what was done with Batman. Back to basics, back to the origin and the intro of the Shredder, etc...there have been talks, trips to Northampton to talk to Mr Laird, and discussions with the original "first" TMNT film director Steve Barron to come back and do it right--but no official word yet...will keep you posted. Best, Kevin. But mysteriously now it has disappeared from the Heavy Metal Forum. This was the link: http://metaltv.rightangleinc.com/mboard/read.php?4,14844, but as I said the thread has been deleted. Thats how this whole mess got started. I originally read it at G4TV.cm's blog The Feed and at SuperHeroHype.com. Hope all this information helps in some way.

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  8. The rumor of live action started before the Keven Eastman forum post.

    Playmates site said a live-action movie was being made and that it would be released in 2010. It has been removed from Playmates site.

    Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/terrible2z/2670145073/

    Peter Laird said in a interview: "... One of the things which seems to appeal to everyone is this idea of doing what people are calling a "hybrid" movie -- one where most of it will be live-action, but the Turtles would be very realistically rendered CGI characters. I think that could be, if done correctly, incredibly cool. ..."

    Source: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080610-TMNT25-Laird.html

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  9. @m.:
    If live action isn't being discussed, my bad. But I recalled the Peter quote that Zack posted when stating that (not the debunked Playmates statement, although that seemed to imply that live action might be being discussed).

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  10. -->> o my god, Zack , Rose..

    so it was all my fault from the very start.

    O god >v<

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  11. Someone report this entry to the big movie sites and so forth. I'm tired of all of these poseurs. It's okay to be a casual or ex-TMNT fan and report something, but don't act like you're still in the know. And don't ever, EVER challenge Murphy's authority, as they are on sites such as IGN. If you do, that is a huge helping of extra fail.

    Here's the worst thing: these individuals post things like the following:

    -Splinter should be a mutated Hamato Yoshi again. Being a rat as to begin with was a stupid idea.
    -I won't see the movie unless Rocksteady or Bebop is in it.
    -Shredder better not be Krang like he is in the new cartoon.

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  12. Thanks for the info Rose. Man, if ever therer was a time to follow the adage, "if it sounds to good to be true..." this was it. :(

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  13. Murph, I also dug up this quote from Peter's blog:

    Yes, we had a movie meeting yesterday (one of several we've had over the last few months). As Mirage policy is to not discuss details until an actual deal is in place, I must be circumspect. However, I can say this -- the people we met with are enthusiastic and energetic and very much want to do a TMNT movie, and I believe they have the wherewithal to accomplish that goal. And it is almost entirely certain that if we do the movie with these folks, it will be a live action/CGI hybrid. -- PL

    If this isn't the case, apologies on my part.

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  14. -->> IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, ROSIE !! !! ~~ ** **


    ;)


    >v<

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  15. I know where you live, Tokka. Don't be surprised when 100 pizzas get delivered to your door! ;p

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