The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are set to return to the big screen after a 14-year break in a lavish new computer-generated movie, the industry press said Monday.
The new movie that will feature state-of-the-art computer-generated animation (CGI) is set for release in early 2007, industry bible Daily Variety said.
In their first deal since their celebrated divorce from Walt Disney Company, Hollywood independent movie magnates Harvey and Bob Weinstein have agreed to distribute the film for Warner Bros studios.
”We think that a new generation of kids will love discovering Turtles, especially supported by the enthusiasm of fans of the original movies, comicbooks and TV shows,” Warner Bros Pictures president Jeff Robinov told Variety.
The comic-book inspired stories of four humanoid fighting turtles caused a worldwide sensation when they were adapted for television in the late 1980s before hitting the big screen in 1990.
But the lucrative franchise has laid dormant since the third in the trilogy of live action films, which together grossed a total of more than $256-million in North America, was released in 1993.
The new Turtles movie, which will be far grittier than the original films, will be aimed at adult and parentally-accompanied youngsters and will feature state-of-the-art computer-generated graphics.
The film will be written and directed by animation guru Kevin Munroe, who is developing the screenplay in consultation with Turtles comic book co-creator Peter Laird and the CGI animation will be created in Imagi in Hong Kong. – Sapa-AFP