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Friday, March 23, 2012

Director Jonathan Liebesman Comments on New TMNT Movie



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.

Further details speak to Kevin Eastman's involvement in the film:
"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.

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like cooler heads have prevailed, both behind the scenes and in the online community.

    I'm not sure I 100% agree with your take, Roseangelo (since he neither confirms nor denies the whole extraterrestrial thing), but certainly his exposition on the subject is indicative of someone who will treat the franchise right. This is a good thing!

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  2. Thanks for the updates!

    I actually laughed at the outrage. I mean, come on, it was one comment out of the blue. I guess people just jumped on the first opportunity to rage at Bay. xD

    I trust Liebesman and Eastman. ;) I won't say any opinions until I see the actual movie. But I look forward to it either way - who knows, it can always turn out awesome. But you just gotta wait and see.

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  3. I understand the outrage. First the comments were clear from Michael Bay that the Turtles themselves were aliens. That is why I find Jonathan Liebesman's comment, "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." so condescending.
    Second, this is Bay we're talking about and he has shown multiple times that he has no regard for storytelling.

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  4. I like how Liebesman talks down to everyone by saying "if they were die-hard fans they'd know...". Nobody said they didn't know the mutagen came from aliens, they said they knew the turtles themselves weren't aliens. Maybe he should actually read what people are saying before trying to pander to them.

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  5. being in contact with an alien ooze doesn´t make u an alien if u were born on earh in the first place, so simple like that.

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  6. Wait wait wait. Filming in Canada?

    Get the nerd rage ready again, gang. Making the turtles CANADIAN??!!??

    Lines have just been crossed. ;-)

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    1. Canadian Alien Turtles would be AWESOME!!!!

      They would be... Canaliens!

      Sayonara.

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    3. Maybe all this time they really just meant illegal aliens.

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  7. "They're the best characters I'll have had a chance to deal with"

    I'm sorry... but I'm afraid this isn't called "The Imagin Movie"

    kidding... I hope this movie will be good

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  8. I Agreed with David McBride, above. Bay's comments were very clear; now Jonathan seems too be doing damage control and contradicting him.

    Good!

    I'm still not happy with this bad first impression of Michael Bay's handling of TMNT's - he's flippant and unexpectedly arrogant - definitely comes across as an I-know-what's-best-and-you'll-love-it-so-back-off! kinda guy.

    Bring back KEVIN MUNROE!!!

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  9. AMEN to all. Bay didn't tick me off until he instructed the entire fan-base to "chill". Obnoxious & condescending... it just came across as arrogant jerkiness. This isn't much better. Of COURSE we know about TCRI, does this guy think the fans are retarded?

    Meh, I've got a "wait and see" attitude, which I think most fans do. While there's anger, there's also a sense of knowing there's little to nothing that can be done, that the powers that own the TMNT now will do whatever the hell they want, regardless of mass opinion. There's just a lot less excitement for the movie now than there was before these idiotic comments.

    As for me, I won't bother seeing it in the theaters unless the whole alien thing is debunked entirely before it comes out. Idk if I'll bother getting it on DVD either. But, if the movie does completely suck, we've got 25 years' worth of Turtle-awesomeness that they can't touch. I'm content with that.

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