Turtle Bits: Nick’s TMNT Renewed for Third Season, Movie Release Date Pushed Back

It’s been an interesting week, hasn’t it? Fans haven’t been able to stop talking about Michael Bay’s announcement that Megan Fox would be in the new Ninja Turtles film, most of them fearing that this could mean bad things for the production. How this latest casting will affect the film remains to be seen, but at least we know who she is going to play. As we had originally speculated, Fox will most likely be playing April O’Neil, which was revealed via an IMDb listing for the latest cast member. It remains to be seen whether or not this is entirely accurate, but chances are it’s a pretty safe bet.

That being said, all those worried about the film will be glad to know its release date has been pushed back even further. Just so we’re clear, this doesn’t mean that there’s a chance the movie won’t be made – it just means that the studios now feel it would be best to release it during the summer instead. Originally, the film had been slated for release in May of 2014, but it has been pushed back a few weeks to June 6^th. If anything, this is an indication that the studios have higher hopes for the project and believe it could be a  summer blockbuster in the making. Fans will no doubt cry foul, but at least these heroes in a half shell are getting some respect from the head honchos.

Speaking of which, it would appear that Nickelodeon has learned to have quite a bit of respect for the boys in green. After all, it was only a few months ago that they announced the renewal of their new TMNT show for a second season, and they just recently announced that they have renewed it for a third season as well. Just so we’re clear here, the first season of the series isn’t even finished yet and they’ve already renewed it for another two seasons. In the world of television, particularly when it comes to animated shows, this is almost entirely unheard of.

Some have suggested that this decision may have been made as a result of Nick’s stiff competition from channels that offer similar content, but any way you slice it, this is good news for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It could also be good news for animation fans, as Nickelodeon Group’s president Cyma Zarghami also said that they have “hit the reset button” and that Nick is currently in the process of “reinventing itself” with a strong focus on animation. Could this mean a return to the kind of original and creative content we saw from Nicktoons in the 90’s? Only time will tell.