Plans For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 Look Good

When Paramount discovered that their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was a hit, they were quick to greenlight a sequel and give it a planned release date of June 3rd, 2016. Of course, setting up a time frame like that means they’ll have to get everything figured out quite quickly, so it’s nice to hear that they’re well on their way to keeping on schedule with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. It’s only the end of January 2015, and according to Collider, they’ve already taken care of some preliminary concerns.

In an interview, Platinum Dunes producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form confirmed that filming for TMNT 2 would begin this April in New York City. Depending on how long the shoot is, this will give them roughly a year to make sure that everything looks and sounds exactly the way it should. Despite having the limitation of a short amount of time to get things going with this film, it would appear that everything is going swimmingly with this sequel. This news comes mere weeks after a possible director for the film was announced.

In December, Variety reported that David Green was in talks to direct TMNT 2. Green is best known for his work on last year’s kid friendly Earth to Echo, which was a breath of fresh air aimed at an audience that often gets forgotten or ignored at the box office. Made on a budget of just $13 million, the film went on to gross $45 million worldwide. Not only does this show that Green can come in under budget, but it also reveals that he’s got a talent for filmmaking and knows how to make a successful film aimed at modern young adults.

When we look back at the words of Fuller when describing the audience for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it makes perfect sense that he would hire a director who has recent success helming a movie aimed at that exact same audience. Although long time fans of the Ninja Turtles may be wary of this choice, fearing that the film will focus too much on younger TMNT fans and ignore those who grew up with the franchise, there may not be too much cause for concern. After all, if Earth to Echo proves anything, it proves that Dave Green has a certain sense of nostalgia that will probably come in very handy for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.

In a lot of ways, Earth to Echo paid homage to Spielberg classics such as E.T. and The Goonies, telling the story of a group of young friends who worked together to help an alien escape the clutches of a Government organization. The plot for this movie felt like something that came right out of the 1980’s, but the stars of the film were all modern kids living in the internet age, expressing themselves through the technology that they grew up with. With this movie, Green proves that he can not only reach the younger audience that Platinum Dunes is aiming to please, he also proves that he can give adults something that will fulfill our need for nostalgia.

All in all, we’re off to a great start with the TMNT sequel and there’s plenty of reason to be excited. As if it weren’t enough to learn that Bebop and Rocksteady will be in the movie, now we know that a competent director is at the helm and they’ll be filming it this April. If you weren’t confident about the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, all of the news coming out about the sequel should be somewhat comforting. That being said, it’s impossible to predict how shellheads will react to anything, so let us know what you guys think in the comments below.