So Michael Bay is working on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) movie. You can read some details here. And get this, the Turtles will be aliens, not mutants. Of course, fans got upset. That was certainly my reaction. I mean, TMNT was a big part of my childhood, and I can already picture Michael Bay ruining it by adding terrible model/non-actresses and explosions. The best joke that sums this up was a tweet by Matt Mira (@mattmira): “Michael Bay tells TMNT fans to ‘Chill Out.’ Meanwhile Michelangelo’s nunchucks will now be 2 explosions connected with a small chain.”
But there’s good news. First, Michael Bay will not direct. Awesome. Second, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman has been quoted as saying that he has consulted on the project (and the new TMNT cartoon) and he gives them a thumbs up. So while that makes me feel better, I’m not completely sold on this project.
It’s interesting that Bay would try making another TMNT movie so soon after the latest (albeit animated) TMNT movie bombed. And the series is coming back too? I love TMNT, and I love cartoons from the 90s, but today’s cartoons seem so wildly different, I just don’t know if TMNT can ever make a comeback. Maybe some things should stay in my childhood, and not be rebooted.
And that is why I will not be allowed to head a Hollywood studio.