Reshoots and New Voice Casting Confirmed for TMNT Movie

After rumors spread recently that the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie would be delayed until the fall due to reshoots, both Paramount and Michael Bay came out and said the reports were not true. Mere days later, the actors themselves confirmed that they had been called back for reshoots – in particular, Megan Fox and Alan Ritchson. Why them? Who knows. Ritchson took a photo of himself with his motion capture suit for Instagram to prove that he was involved with the process.

Only a day or two after that, it was confirmed that two new vocal talents would be joining the cast: Johnny Knoxville (Bad Grandpa, The Last Stand) and Tony Shalhoub (Monk). Knoxville will be performing the voice of Leonardo, while Shalhoub takes on the voice of Splinter. Previously, Pete Ploszek was set to both act and perform the vocal stylings of Leo, while Danny Woodburn (of Seinfeld fame) was cast to do the same for Splinter. There’s no word yet on why this decision was made, but it’s a pretty good bet that someone at the studio saw (or rather heard) something they didn’t like in the film. To be fair, these definitely aren’t bad choices and it’s not unheard of to cast well known actors to play the voices of characters that are primarily CGI.
As for whether or not this will actually delay the film, Paramount has said that it will not. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is still on track for an August release and it doesn’t appear that even reshoots will stop this movie from being released in the summer. The truth about reshoots and the recasting of voices is that it’s really not that big of a deal in terms of time. Yes, they are on a tight schedule, but they’ve also got 4 months to reshoot a couple of scenes, edit in some new voices and have the final product prepared for distribution in August. They have the bulk of the project completed, but now they are going back to change or add a few things here and there, including (hopefully) better voices for our favorite TMNT characters.
Shellheads take note: fans were concerned about the first trailer and almost immediately afterward plans were put in place to put more effort into the film. This is ultimately a good thing, and a sign that the studios actually do care about the end product.
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