With filming already underway in New York, we finally have a name attached to the role of Splinter in the upcoming "Ninja Turtles" film.
Arnett’s role is being kept secret, though still uncast from the Ninja Turtles mythology are Splinter, the turtles' sensei rat, and the villainous and masked Shredder. Arnett is not playing the turtles' human friend Casey, another role that has yet to be cast.Arnett joins Megan Fox (April O'Neil), Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Pete Ploszek (Leonardo), Jeremy Howard (Donatello), and Noel Fisher (Michelangelo).
The movie is mainly being shot in New York City, but Paramount went to the state to find a ski slope where it would be able to shoot part of the action, said village Mayor Paul Maroun.
Posted signs tell visitors to stay out of the Big Tupper Ski Area while a movie is being filmed there.
"They needed a ski resort that was closed," Maroun said. "Big Tupper fit it perfectly."Unfortunately, this news most likely means that the current working script is still based around the script that was leaked online last summer.
To answer ur tweets, YES I'm Raphael.I u think u know what to expect, u have NO idea.. You won't be disappointed.Trust me.. #TMNTIt is assumed that Mr. Ritchson will be doing motion capture work for the role, although it is not confirmed it he will also be performing the voice.
— Alan Ritchson (@alanritchson) March 22, 2013
Less than a week after the announcement that Megan Fox has been cast as April O'Neil in next year's Ninja Turtles movie, comes the news that Paramount has pushed back the release date from May 16, 2014 to June 6, 2014.
TMNT: we are bringing Megan Fox back into the family!Despite getting fired from the Transformers series between Transformers 2 and Transformers 3, it would seem that Bay has decided to give Fox another chance to be in one of his films. Of course, as of right now there is no official confirmation via Paramount, so we can only speculate as to what role she might be playing. But the obvious role in a TMNT story would be April O'Neil. It shouldn't be too long before we get confirmation on this and other casting decisions.
Principle photography on TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, is scheduled to begin this April in New York.While no details are currently available, the above tweet showed up over the weekend, declaring that filming on the upcoming live action TMNT movie would begin in New York starting in April. Previously, the movie had been scheduled to film in Vancouver (before getting shut down back in June). It is likely that New York filming will consist of establishing shots, considering the lower cost of shooting a movie in Vancouver.
— Production Weekly (@prodweek) January 12, 2013
Sources say "Turtles" was pushed because the filmmakers and studio felt they wouldn't be ready for the October shoot date. Paramount had no comment.
The shutdown is not indefinite and the plan is to work on the script over the next couple of weeks in order to beef up the material and bring the budget down slightly.It sounds like there are concerns about the script in its current state, but they're not starting over from scratch, so it's unknown if the "alien" element of the story will remain or not. But if they're trying to bring the budget down, it may be that they need to tone down the amount of effects-heavy space elements. It will certainly be interesting to see how this develops!
Still worked up about Michael Bay's "alien" comments from a couple weeks ago, another wave of Internet rage seems to have emerged with the revelation that the working title of the film is simply "Ninja Turtles." People seem to be interpreting this as a way to delete both the mutant and teenage aspects of the characters from the film. However, in another statement made on his official message boards, Bay clarifies that the title change was made by Paramount (not Bay) to simplify the title. In his full statement, he also reiterates that great care is going into the movie to make it something the fans are going to love.Paramount marketing changed the name. They made the title simple. The characters you all remember are exactly the same, and yes they still act like teenagers. Everything you remember, why you liked the characters, is in the movie. This script is being developed by two very smart writers, with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles. They care VERY MUCH about making this film for the fans. Everyone on this team cares about the fans. Just give them a chance. Jonathan the director, is a major fan of the whole franchise. HE'S NOT GOING TO LET YOU DOWN.Of course, saying "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" repeatedly gets tiring quite fast, and pretty much everyone has simplified it to "Ninja Turtles" anyways. Considering that there are also already three movies that start with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," differentiating this new movie from the old ones is a no-brainer.
MICHAEL
While doing press for the upcoming Wrath of the Titans, Jonathan Liebesman finally had a chance to have his own say about the recent "alien" controversy in an interview with Collider.com. And in doing so, he pretty much confirms that the Turtles themselves aren't going to be aliens. He actually said all the right things that should make any TMNT fan ready to embrace and be excited for this movie.
"Look, it's so funny—if everyone was such a die-hard fan, they would know that the TCRI canisters where the ooze comes from. That is alien ooze. Now I'm not saying what Michael said is exactly what the movie is, because we're sitting in a room now figuring everything out. So we don't know, but we are like Michael said: we're expanding it, and the expansion will be true to the mythology. I promise you: fans will love it."He also commented that this isn't just going to be an action movie.
"We're definitely into the action, but for me what's more important than that is that it's a story about brotherhood and friendship and responsibility. Right now, I'm with the characters because those are what attracted me to the movie. They're the best characters I'll have had a chance to deal with."These comments alone should be enough to satisfy fans that this movie is going in the right direction and that, for now at least, there's no need for nerd rage.
"A lot of it is stuff he’s wanted to do for a long time, but just hasn’t had the opportunity [before, but] now we have the budget ... on this film to expand it in the right way."Finally, Liebesman mentions that the film could be filming in Canada sometime around September, and that they're looking at rendering the Turtles with motion capture suits, similar to Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
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| Kevin Eastman drawing secret stuff. Photo by: Jonathan Liebesman |
Hey Guys, Sorry to have been away for so long--completely swamped with work--but it is some pretty exciting stuff. I had been invited to check out the TMNT film development by my friend Scott Mednick over the years, and a while back had a full look behind the curtain at what writers Appelbaum and Nemec, director Liebesman, and producer Bay are doing--and trust me--it IS AWESOME. I'm officially on board, and will share more as I'm allowed… thanks all!So, it looks like Kevin is behind the project 100%. And that's good enough assurance for me.
Meanwhile, Peter Laird has posted some of his own musings on the topic on his blog, although he has no personal involvement in the project and knows only as much as the rest of us do. He also drew a cute little alien Turtle.Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.
MichaelIt's safe to assume that the creator being spoken about is Kevin Eastman. Not only is Peter Laird absolutely not involved in any of the new projects, but Kevin mentioned having seen the script in an interview late last year during the Lost Angeles: 35 Days of Kevin Eastman event at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.
