Nickelodeon Readies Next Chapter of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with All-New CG-Animated Theatrical Release Produced By Point Grey Pictures

NICKELODEON READIES NEXT CHAPTER OF TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES WITH ALL-NEW CG-ANIMATED THEATRICAL RELEASE PRODUCED BY POINT GREY PICTURES

Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver to Create All-New Iteration of the Iconic Franchise and Its Chaotic Cast of Crime-Fighting Ninja Turtles

Theatrical Motion Picture Directed by Jeff Rowe and Written by Brendan O’Brian; Paramount Pictures to Handle Worldwide Distribution

BURBANK, Calif.-June 30, 2020-Nickelodeon and award-winning Point Grey Pictures’ Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver are jointly announcing today that production will begin on an all-new CG-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theatrical motion picture. Marking the Nickelodeon Animation Studio’s first-ever CG theatrical production, in partnership with Ramsey Naito, Executive Vice President, Animation Production and Development, overseeing production for Nickelodeon. Josh Fagen is overseeing for Point Grey Pictures. Paramount Pictures will handle worldwide distribution of the film.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theatrical motion picture will be directed by Jeff Rowe (Gravity Falls, Connected, Disenchantment) and written by Brendan O’Brian (Neighbors, Sorority Rising, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates).

Said Brian Robbins, President, Kids & Family for ViacomCBS: “Adding Seth, Evan and James’ genius to the humor and action that’s already an integral part of TMNT is going to make this a next-level reinvention of the property. I’m looking forward to see what they do, and I know that Ramsey Naito and her team are excited to take the Nick Animation Studio into another great direction with their first-ever CG-animated theatrical.”

Considered one of the most popular kids’ franchises, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, global property created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It first debuted as a successful comic book series and then became a hit animated TV show, a live-action television series and later spawned numerous blockbuster theatrical releases. The property is a global consumer products powerhouse, winning in every category that has hit shelves to date—with toys, apparel, video games, DVDs and more—and generating billions of dollars at retail.

Nickelodeon brought the franchise to life again in 2012 with the CG-animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and then reimagined the Heroes in a Half-Shell with the 2D-animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2019. As previously announced, as part of a separate deal, Nickelodeon and Netflix are partnering to produce an original animated 2D film based on the current Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 41st year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).

About Paramount Pictures Corporation

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC; VIACA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, and Paramount Players. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About Point Grey Pictures

Launched in 2011 by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Point Grey Pictures (PGP) is a production company dedicated to creating multi-genre film and television content anchored in dynamic, authentic and passionate storytelling. Known for box-office hits like NEIGHBORS and THIS IS THE END, to the first R-rated CGI film SAUSAGE PARTY, to the Academy Award-nominated THE DISASTER ARTIST and unconventional series like PREACHER, FUTURE MAN and BLACK MONDAY – PGP continues to bring a range of smart, irreverent narratives to audiences. Garnering over one billion dollars in global box office results, Point Grey has created a variety of successful films from indie to blockbuster.

The Point Grey team is preparing for the release of AN AMERICAN PICKLE, set to launch on HBO Max on August 6. Rogen stars as an immigrant worker at a pickle factory who is accidentally preserved for 100 years and wakes up in modern day Brooklyn. Their critically acclaimed series THE BOYS, which was renewed for a second season before the show even premiered, will return on September 4. Point Grey also produced the third and final season of FUTURE MAN as well as the second season of BLACK MONDAY, both of which premiered in 2020. 2019 marked a banner year for Point Grey with the release of Jonathan Levine’s romantic comedy LONG SHOT starring Rogen and Charlize Theron, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky’s box office hit GOOD BOYS.

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Update (8/9) - Director Jeff Rowe took to Twitter to express his excitement about the project. He wrote: "When I was five my best friends were four sewer-dwelling, pizza-eating, crime-fighting turtles named after Renaissance artists. It’s my absolute pleasure to join Nickelodeon, Brendan O'Brien and the team at Point Grey in reintroducing them to the world."

Update (8/4) - In an interview with Insider, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg explain the challenges of the business, rebooting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Rogen and Goldberg are rebooting 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' and making a movie with the director of 'Call Me by Your Name'

Rogen and Goldberg are currently hard at work reviving the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise with an upcoming animated movie for Nickelodeon. It will be directed by Jeff Rowe ("Connected") and written by "Neighbors" franchise scribe Brendan O'Brien. It marks the first time Point Grey has a legacy IP to play around with, and it's all the more special for Rogen and Goldberg as they are big fans of the heroes in a half shell.

"When I look at 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' the teenage part was weirdly what stuck out to me the most," Rogen said. "I think one thing we've been pretty consistently good at over the years is creating material about teenagers, from 'Blockers,' 'Good Boys,' and 'Superbad.' That was really what became exciting for us is how do we make a great action-adventure movie that's also a great teenage movie?"

Goldberg said the duo's personal interest became evident to everyone on the "Turtles" project in a recent call when he and Rogen found out some story notes were given to O'Brien that they didn't know about.

"We freaked out more than normal," Goldberg said. "They were just shocked by that, but we were like, 'Guys, we just really care about this.'"

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Update (10/7) - Megan Fox, who played April O’Neil in Paramount Pictures' first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, is reportedly keen to feature in Nickelodeon's new CG-animated TMNT movie! Update - Talking to Collider, Rogen revealed what will make his Ninja Turtles movie that’ll make it stand out from the rest:

“As a lifelong fan of Ninja Turtles, weirdly the ‘Teenage’ part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was always the part that stuck out to me the most. And as someone who loves teenage movies, and who’s made a lot of teenage movies, and who literally got their start in their entire profession by writing a teenage movie, the idea of kind of honing in on that element was really exciting to us. I mean, not disregarding the rest, but really using that as kind of a jumping off point for the film.”

More Nick: Nickelodeon Upfront 2020 Roundup!

Originally published: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 17:21 BST.

Additional source: Dread Central, Digital Spy.

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