Fans of the "heroes in a half-shell" have been going crazy since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman posted tantalizing tid-bits about a new live-action movie on his website. Though Eastman sold his rights to the turtles to Peter Laird and Mirage Studios several years ago, because of his status as the co-creator of the franchise, many fans believed the news. Eastman has subsequently offered up an apology for his comments, but rumors continue to swirl.
In a recent interview with MTV, Peter Laird commented on the Eastman controversy, and offered up his own vision of the future of the franchise.
Regarding Eastman, Laird said:
"I have to say that I don’t know why Kevin was talking about something with which he has no involvement. The blurb he put on his website was very inaccurate. He has not been involved with any meetings in Northampton, nor any others related to a new 'TMNT' movie, as far as I know. That being said, I can confirm that we have had several meetings with very interested people, and I think we are pretty close to making a deal. As owner of the TMNT property, I want to be the first to announce it at a time of my choosing (hopefully soon)."
When asked whether he preferred live-action or CGI, Laird responded:
As it stands now, there is no intention of doing another live-action film like the first three, with actors and stuntmen in actual Turtle suits, contrary to what was said by Kevin. We have pretty much decided that the next 'TMNT' movie should be what we’ve been calling a 'hybrid' — that is to say, live-action humans and sets combined with very realistic CGI Turtles (and possibly some other CGI characters).
Laird went on to say that he had a great deal of admiration for Steve Barron, the director of the original live-action TMNT film, and that he would be happy to work with him again:
He saved that movie, basically. We’ve spoken to him a few times, and I would be very pleased if he ended up directing the next 'TMNT' movie.
As for casting, Laird said that he wouldn't mind having a certain former vampire-slayer on board:
I really liked the way Elias Koteas and Judith Hoag brought Casey and April to life in the first live-action movie — they each did a fantastic job. Unfortunately, I think they might be a little too old to play these characters now (even if they wanted to, and I have no idea if they would). However, I think Chris Evans and Sarah Michelle Gellar did wonderful work voicing the Casey and April characters in the recent CGI 'TMNT' movie, and I think it would be really cool if we could get them to reprise those roles, but this time 'in the flesh.' I think that might be the first time something like that has happened."
Fans will just have to wait and see…
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