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Movie / TMNT Movies

TMNT fans have been treated to several amazing TMNT movies (with the first one being released in 1990), and the upcoming 2014 movie appears to be no exception! Directed by Michael Bay, this upcoming blockbuster will feature stars like Johnny Knocksville (Leonardo’s voice), Megan Fox (as April O’Neil!) and William Fichtner (The Shredder).

Once again, the setting is New York City. The evil Shredder and his foot clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until our unlikely quartet of amphibious siblings rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Here on TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles.com we’ll keep you plugged in to the latest and greatest on the upcoming TMNT movies, as well as provide key insights and gossip (whether they come down the sewer pike via rumor or if it pops up at major events like the San Diego Comic-con).

Deluxe Turtle Costumes From The Prop Shop!

by Dan Spitaliere June 15, 2016

written by Dan Spitaliere

Growing up a TMNT fan brings with it a certain amount of universal truths. Like me, you probably remember Saturday mornings as a kid, dressed in your Turtle pajamas, watching the cartoon. You have plastic bins filled with action figures, vehicles, and play sets. You’ve eaten at least one Turtle themed food, whether it be a cereal, fruit snacks, an ice cream, or maybe even one of those fruit pies that came with the trading cards. But all these things weren’t enough. You didn’t want to just watch the Turtles on TV, or play with toys, you wanted to be a Ninja Turtle. This feeling leads to costumes of various degrees. The costume set in stores that came with a mask with a rubber nose attached and elbow and knee pads. The one your Mom made you for Halloween. A quick and dirty costume made out of stuff you bought at the 99 cent store for that college event. The one you and your wife spent months on to get ready for Comic Con. That’s my experience, and I’m sure it’s the same for many of you out there too.

Courtesy of The Prop Shop, www.thepropshopsite.com

I called these universal, because whichever Turtles fandom you associate with, whichever version you watched, you’ve probably done these things, or are on your way. But if you’re like me, and you walked out of the movie theater in 1990 and saw the Turtles, alive for the first time… Well, have I got a treat for you.

Let me introduce you to Casey Carty. Casey, along with Celena Comerio, and part time crafter Jenae Hearn-Everitt, run The Prop Shop, a small company based in Port Huron, Michigan, that specializes in recreating the Jim Henson style costumes of the 1990s movies. All of their costumes are commissioned pieces, meaning if you buy a Leonardo costume, it is specifically yours. They have other costume lines, namely ones based in horror, and also buy, sell, and trade collectibles of many fandoms. But you’re here for the good stuff. Check out the gallery below!

Courtesy of The Prop Shop, www.thepropshopsite.com

The early pictures in the gallery represent the teams earliest work. Over time, you can see how the proportions changed, and they move towards a style that is nearly identical to the 1990s style. That Raphael is just spot on. Despite being a huge Leo fan, I have to say I’d probably go with the Undercover Raph costume. I could finally live out me and my friends dream of rolling off a cab and reenacting the Raph/Casey Jones fight from the first film! “A Jose Canseco bat? Tell me you didn’t pay money for this!”

Check out all of Casey, Celena, and Jenae’s work at www.thepropshopsite.com! And let us know what you think about the costumes in the comments!

June 15, 2016 0 comment

James Rolfe (left) and Andre Meadows (right) are two of the biggest TMNT fans on the web. What did they think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows? Sources: Cinemassacre, Black Nerd Comedy

AVGN and Black Nerd Review Out of the Shadows

by Justin W June 9, 2016

written by Justin W

Now that you’ve seen our opinions on the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, perhaps it’s time to see what some of the biggest Ninja Turtles fans in the world thought about Out of the Shadows. When it comes to the TMNT, few fans are more vocal about their love of these heroes in a half shell than the Angry Video Game Nerd James Rolfe and Andre Meadows of Black Nerd Comedy.

Both entertainers recently provided their own take on the new movie from Paramount Pictures and Platinum Dunes, sharing their love for the franchise and everything that the filmmakers managed to get right. First off, let’s take a look at Andre’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows review and hear what he had to say.

Although it’s clear that he didn’t think this movie was perfect, it seems as though he was pretty satisfied with the results. At one point, he even jokes that Tyler Perry was acting a bit too much like him, suggesting that Paramount owes him a check for likeness rights.

To be fair, I think he has a point, because Perry’s take on Baxter Stockman was a little too close to the behavior we’d expect from the Black Nerd. Heck, they could have saved money by choosing Andre Meadows to play Stockman; he might have even thrown in his not-so-patented Krang voice for free!

Next up, James Rolfe joins his friend Matt to give us a quick review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Most people know Rolfe in the role of Angry Video Game Nerd, but if you’ve ever seen some of the other videos he has produced, chances are that you’ve seen at least one video devoted to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Heck, Rolfe even did a video where he tried some of the pizzas that Mikey made in the original animated series!

James was one of the many fans who were dying to finally see Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady in a feature film, but that won’t stop him from being honest about the entire project. It would appear that he enjoyed the movie, but he also noted several times that it wasn’t necessarily perfect.

Both of these notable Ninja Turtles fans were more than happy with the movie they got, but they also had a few criticisms as well. Much like our reviewers, it seems that both Andre and James felt that the movie was enjoyable even though it wasn’t perfect.

At the end of Rolfe’s video, he and his friend discuss whether or not they would ever watch the movie again. Would you watch it again? Personally, I can’t wait until this bad boy hits the home video market, but I would love to hear your thoughts as well.

What do you think? Did AVGN and Black Nerd do a good job of summarizing the positives and negatives of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows? Would you watch this movie again when it comes out on home video? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or feel free to respond to us on facebook/twitter!

June 9, 2016 1 comment

Mikey tries "squirrel" formation and it doesn't go so well. Source: Paramount Pictures

Blog Movie / TMNT Movies

4 Reasons Out of the Shadows Failed To Impress Some Audiences

by Justin W June 7, 2016

written by Justin W

“It’s never a good sign when you can’t pull in a full house for a free screening.”

That is an actual quote that I overheard at the premiere for the film. Nobody wanted this movie to succeed more than I did. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is perhaps one of the most accurate representations we have ever seen of the Ninja Turtles on the big screen, but not every audience agrees with that.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows poster. Source: Paramount Pictures.

After dismal numbers during its opening weekend, I recently reported that the movie had bombed – and that’s a fair statement to make. Although the term “box office bomb” typically refers to a film’s entire theatrical run, one only needs to look at the history behind foreign box office numbers to see that even in the greatest situation, it will be difficult for this movie to earn its money back at the box office.

I have no doubt that Out of the Shadows will manage to justify its production budget within the next few weeks, but the production budget does not account for the costs of advertising and distribution. All told, it’s likely that this movie will need to earn at least $500 million to truly be considered successful by the studios, and that looks to be very unlikely.

The first movie made $65 million during its opening weekend in domestic markets alone, and it only managed to pull in a total of $493 million total at the box office. So far, Out of the Shadows has performed far worse than its predecessor, indicating that it might not even earn that much once all is said and done.

If you’re trying to figure out what happened here, you’re not alone. With that in mind, I’ve decided to provide my own list of reasons that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows might have failed to impress certain audiences, resulting in numbers that don’t look very awesome.

1. Too Much Advertising

If the first TMNT movie suffered from a lack of advertising (and it most certainly did), the second movie actually had too much of it. There were dozens of TV Spots, trailers and clips for the movie, resulting in a market that was almost over-saturated with all things TMNT 2.

Some reviewers even stated that they felt like they had already seen the entire movie in the advertisements, and it’s not difficult to see where they are coming from. Even one of the biggest moments in the film was shared on Youtube via clips, which might leave some audiences asking why they should even go to see the movie.

2. First Film Soured TMNT Fans

Although a lot of shellheads absolutely loved the 2014 film, the truth is that many audiences did not enjoy it. Several fans outright refused to support Out of the Shadows simply because it was a sequel to that movie. The relative authenticity of TMNT 2 simply wasn’t a factor for this audience, as they took issue with other aspects behind the production of the film.

For instance, a lot of people really dislike Michael Bay, and they simply refuse to see anything with his name on it – even if he’s just an executive producer. The look and feel of these CGI Ninja Turtles was also a big problem for many potential viewers, and neither Paramount or Platinum Dunes were willing to change much about that.

3. Focused Too Heavily On One Audience

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have changed a lot over the years. One might even say that they are in a constant state of flux. Some fans prefer the original Mirage comics, others like the 1987 cartoon; some swear by the 4Kids series while many fans are enamored with the original films of the 1990s. Each of these representations of the Ninja Turtles is wildly different in its own way, which means that it is difficult to produce anything related to the franchise without potentially offending or disappointing at least one of those fan communities. Nickelodeon managed to pull it off quite well, but that kind of success is difficult to recreate on film.

This was not the Shredder that some fans wanted to see in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Source: Paramount.

It’s not as easy as you might think to please all TMNT fans at once; believe me, I’m always unintentionally offending someone with almost anything that I write. Out of the Shadows focused heavily on recreating the ’87 cartoon in live action, leaving little room for any other representation of the Ninja Turtles. This appears to have alienated a lot of fans who prefer a more gritty take on the turtles, with many saying that they would have preferred something closer to either the Mirage comics or the 4Kids series. When it comes to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you simply can’t please everyone.

4. Too Much Competition

While the first movie came out in the late summer, this one is smack dab in the middle of summer blockbuster territory. The 2014 film was released the week after Guardians of the Galaxy – which was pretty stiff competition – but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still managed to produce pretty good results.

Movie poster for upcoming movie Finding Dory. Source: Disney/Pixar.

Out of the Shadows was released the week after X-men: Apocalypse, which was definitely more successful during its opening weekend, but it wasn’t as much of a runaway hit as GOTG. That being said, it’s important to remember that Captain America: Civil War is still in theaters as well, which means that there are currently no fewer than three comic book movies in theaters at the same time.

In addition to the comic book movies, Angry Birds also presents a bit of competition. Next week, Out of the Shadows will be facing off against Warcraft, a movie based on a video game franchise. The week after that, we are likely to see a large drop off in box office numbers for the film as Pixar’s Finding Dory will be hitting the silver screen.

Shortly thereafter, you can expect to see Independence Day: Resurgence in theaters alongside Steven Spielberg’s BFG. These are huge titles that are likely to make it difficult for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows to compete in the box office.

In comparison, the 2014 TMNT movie only had titles like The Expendables 3, The Giver and Let’s Be Cops to face in the weeks following its release. As you can see, the competition for Out of the Shadows is going to be a lot more difficult to overcome, and chances are that even a strong showing in foreign markets won’t help the studios earn back all of the money they have invested. The competition is simply too fierce right now, and that could have a seriously negative impact on the film’s performance in the box office.

Conclusion

The last thing I want to do is call this movie a failure when it still has a chance to prove successful after all is said and done. We still have yet to see the numbers from China, and that is likely to represent at least $40-$60 million in ticket sales. However, even when you factor in the potential foreign sales for the film, that figure isn’t likely to be enough to represent a significant ROI.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows movie poster. Source: Paramount Pictures.

Even if it manages to perform well during its second weekend at the box office, chances are that by the time Finding Dory comes out, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows will be struggling to compete in any meaningful way when it comes to domestic numbers.

I absolutely loved Out of the Shadows, but we need to be realistic about what is happening here. Not only is this movie likely to perform worse than its predecessor, but there are several reasons for that which need to be addressed.

Several TMNT fan communities feel under-represented, and that is truly a shame. For those of you who believe I am being preemptive, I apologize if anything that I have written has offended you – but for those who are still waiting for a silver screen representation of your favorite turtles, I can’t necessarily blame you for being upset.

Ultimately, there are many reasons that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows underwhelmed at the box office during its opening weekend. Some of these issues will continue to affect ticket sales in the weeks to come, while others could slowly dissipate over time.

Paramount is likely to make a lot of money off of merchandise related to the film, so chances are that they will earn a decent profit in the end. Unfortunately, that profit isn’t likely to reveal itself until several months have passed and the film is no longer in theaters.

What do you think? Will Out of the Shadows manage to turn a profit in the end? Are these valid reasons for the results we have seen thus far? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on facebook/twitter.

June 7, 2016 13 comments

Blog Movie / TMNT Movies

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

by Justin Bozung June 3, 2016

written by Justin Bozung

There’s one thing that’s abundantly clear after you leave a screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. It’s that you realize, right away, just how much better this Turtles movie is over 2014’s
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And when I say, that I mean it. Out of the Shadows is incredible! Where the first Michael Bay Turtles movie relied heavily on the set-up and back-story of the Turtles, Out of the Shadows throws you right into the Turtles world without any of that pesky story set-up or back-story to get in the way, and it really makes for one hell of a fun ride. While Bay’s first Turtles movie had some really wonderful action sequences, Out of the Shadows not only out does the previous Turtles movie, but it also captures the comic book essence of the Turtles, which give us a comic book brought to life on the big screen.

Each scene in Out of the Shadows feels/looks like a comic book panel has come bursting off of the page. Even the story line here is more comic-oriented. The jokes are very comic book esque. Here’s a breakdown of the story: Shredder (brought to life perfectly by Brian Tee) is in prison. Baxter Stockman (who is played by the under-rated and highly nerdy Tyler Perry–pay attention to his laugh in Out of the Shadows), has been hatching a plan to bust him out. April O’Neil discovers this and puts the Turtles on the case. However, the Turtles
are unable to stop Shredder from escaping as they don’t anticipate Stockman’s plan of opening a dimensional portal to get him out. The portal sucks Shredder out too early and he lands into the hands of Krang (who is voiced by Everybody Loves Raymond’s Brad Garrett).

Michelangelo Poster Still from TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows

If Turtles fans have any issues with Out of the Shadows it might be with how Director Dave Green revises the Turtles mythology slightly. Here in Out of the Shadows Green pits Krang as a dark overload who enlists Shredder to help him with his plan open another, bigger portal into Earth so he can wreck havoc there. Where things differ is how it all ends between Krang and Shredder. It doesn’t end well for either of them, but one ends up frozen and locked in a prison–no doubt setting the franchise up yet another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film to follow next year, perhaps. Out of the Shadows is a perfect summer Hollywood action blockbuster.

It really has it all, and this time around, Director Dave Green has taken care to fix the 3D elements that were sort of lacking in the first film. This time around, too, whereas, in the Bay’s first Turtles movie, the human characters (April, Vern, villains) sort of served as the main characters of the story, here they are almost just really secondary side players. They’re part of the story but they aren’t the main characters, the Turtles are, and that’s the way it should be. Also, coming into the story line here is Casey Jones. Jones is played by the star of the CW’s hit show Arrow, Stephen Amell. As Casey Jones, he’s fine. There will always be a small part of you as a Turtles fan however, that wishes that Amell would’ve added that Clint Eastwood vocal infliction into this interpretation of Jones for Out of the Shadows. With Jones, there’s another, mythology skewing in the film as well. As we all know how Casey Jones became Casey Jones in the Turtles mythology, here we are introduced to Jones and we understand in the first 10 minutes of the movie exactly how the hockey mask hero is created.

There are some really stunning action sequence in Out of the Shadows. While most may remember the downhill slide sequence from the 2014 Turtles film, here in Out of the Shadows each action sequence is like that, but better. The most memorable sequences in Out of the Shadows include the opening Shredder prison break sequence, the airplane in Brazil sequence, and of course, the finale which features the Turtles in the sky above New York City surfing the construction of Krang’s Technodrome. The finale of Out of the Shadows is dazzling. The Turtles fight against Krang and the sequence goes on for quite a long time, and given the architecture of the Technodrome and it’s construction during this sequence, one feels like they’re seeing a live-action Futurist / Kandinsky painting come to life on the screen.

It’s really impressive and awe-inspiring when you consider all the work that went into this film to create these CGI creatures and effects. The creation of Krang is really impressive as well, and in the flesh he’s way more frightening and gross than any cartoon could ever portray him. Out of the Shadows is a thrill ride. It’s funny, action-packed, and it has a lot of heart. And most importantly, it’s a literal comic book brought to life for the screen. Which is all us Turtles fans have ever wanted from any Turtles movie ever. Out of the Shadows, finally, gives us what we’ve all been hoping that a Turtles movie would deliver. It’s about time.

Left to right: Megan Fox as April O’Neil, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Stephen Amell as Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes

June 3, 2016 2 comments

Screen cap taken from trailer for TMNT 2. Source: Paramount

Blog Movie / TMNT Movies

Will TMNT 2 Prove Successful at the Box Office?

by Justin W May 31, 2016

written by Justin W

As the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles move ‘Out of the Shadows’ and into theaters, fans and critics alike are giving mixed reviews of TMNT 2. Some are saying that the film fails to capture the essence of the Ninja Turtles, while others have referred to it as total nostalgia overload. I’ll reserve my criticism for Friday, when the film finally releases in theaters all over the United States – but I want to take a moment to discuss something that most critics and film buffs fail to acknowledge: the ever changing face of the global box office.

TMNT 2 poster to promote the new film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Source: Paramount.

Throughout the history of Hollywood, studios have had a difficult time selling and distributing their films all over the world. Certain markets have been reliable, but others have proven rather difficult to enter until recently. In the late 90’s, worldwide distribution began to expand heavily into markets like China. As you can imagine, this expansion introduced millions of audiences to films they had previously been unaccustomed to seeing.

Even before this moment in film history, we were already seeing the world market opening up to Hollywood distribution quite a bit, which resulted in foreign numbers that sometimes outpaced domestic numbers in the United States. Even so, throughout the 90’s the studios still held a firm belief that the domestic market was the most important consideration. However, once markets like China began to contribute heavily to overall box office numbers, everything began to change. Suddenly, Hollywood blockbusters were making two or three times as much money in foreign markets as they did in domestic markets.

At this point, the studios began to shift their attention away from domestic box office numbers and toward foreign box office numbers. For evidence of this, one needs only look at the box office numbers for the Transformers franchise. Although the domestic and foreign numbers were somewhat evenly split for the first and second film, the performance of Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction prove where things are headed. The third film made $771 million in foreign markets, while the fourth film made $858 million foreign. To put that into perspective, only 22.2% of the money earned from Transformers: Age of Extinction came from audiences in North America. As a direct result of this foreign success, we are now going to see three more Transformers films – despite the fact that the last film barely managed to earn back its production budget in the domestic market.

Limited Edition TMNT 2 poster sold exclusively at WonderCon. Source: Paramount.

Before you ask what this has to do with TMNT 2, allow me to explain. In a world where studios can rely on foreign markets – not only to pick up the slack for domestic markets, but to outsell the domestic market entirely – the game has completely changed. If you live in North America, the studios probably aren’t overly concerned with whether or not you will like one of their films. Their biggest concern at this point is making the worldwide audience happy, so you shouldn’t expect the studios to take note of any fan outrage over any particular movie when they are more than likely going to make their money back regardless.

With that said, I fully expect a lot of North American audiences to reject TMNT 2, but I don’t think it will matter. We’re already seeing quite a few negative reviews for Out of the Shadows, but somehow I doubt those negative reviews will have much of an impact on ticket sales. Although critics might have had a voice with the power to effect change in the industry many decades ago, that simply isn’t the case any longer. Whether you’re a proper film critic or an audience member that is representative of millions of dissatisfied audiences, chances are that the number of satisfied audiences throughout the world will still manage to speak louder than any criticisms you might have of the film.

This won’t stop me from being critical of Out of the Shadows when and if it is necessary, but it’s important to recognize that there may be no stopping this gravy train. With the amount that Paramount has spent on marketing this film, chances are that every parent in the world with a young shellhead will be taking their kids to see this movie very soon. Even if the movie only made $65 million during its opening weekend in North American markets, chances are that the foreign gross would be at least double that number – if not triple. For those who are curious, that’s the number that 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles managed to pull in during its first weekend.

Considering all of the marketing attached to this film, something tells me that number is going to be much higher. I would not be surprised to see a $300 million worldwide opening weekend for TMNT 2, but even if it didn’t fare that well, it’s likely that the movie will earn back its production budget during that first weekend. As is tradition in Hollywood, if the film manages to make back its budget within a few days, chances are that the studios will immediately greenlight the sequel.

Even though some critics have already said a lot of negative things about Out of the Shadows, I think the words of one particular critic from ScifiNow are fairly prophetic in regards to the potential success of this movie:

Dave Green’s sequel will keep youngsters and nostalgic fans more than entertained, for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a prime example of undemanding popcorn cinema.

It won’t change the face of comic-book movies forever – but then it was clearly never intended to do so. A Saturday-morning cartoon created for the big screen, it’s virtually critic-proof.

Whether you like it or not, this is the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film universe and it doesn’t appear that any amount of complaints from critics or fans will stop them from continuing the franchise. As long as it continues to make money all over the world, Paramount will continue to fund sequels and we will continue to see more Ninja Turtles action on the big screen. Although I find it distressing to consider that the voices of critics and audiences in the North American market may be largely ignored, I’m also a little excited to see what comes next.

What do you think? Will TMNT 2 prove successful at the box office, or will it bomb? Is the foreign box office more important than the domestic box office? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on facebook/twitter.

May 31, 2016 0 comment

Newer Posts

Older Posts

1. Too Much Advertising

2. First Film Soured TMNT Fans

3. Focused Too Heavily On One Audience

4. Too Much Competition

Conclusion

What do you think? Will Out of the Shadows manage to turn a profit in the end? Are these valid reasons for the results we have seen thus far? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on facebook/twitter.

What do you think? Will TMNT 2 prove successful at the box office, or will it bomb? Is the foreign box office more important than the domestic box office? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on facebook/twitter.

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