As we first reported on Toonado.com, Paramount Pictures has announced today that its hybrid live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is coming to theaters on November 17, 2028. News of the project first broke last month when we learned that Sonic the Hedgehog and Fast & Furious producer Neal H. Moritz is overseeing the reboot.
It's been said that the plan is to "Sonic-fy" the franchise, which is why The Last Ronin, the planned live-action/CG-hybrid movie that was going to be an R-rated adaptation of the popular graphic novel, has been shelved.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem sequel is reportedly still on the way (it remains dated for a September 17, 2027, release), but that may be the end of the line for the animated franchise. Why? Well, Paramount appears to be going all in on this new live-action take.
The Skydance-owned studio is looking to breathe new life into its IPs, and this live-action/CG-hybrid would be the first time we've seen the Heroes in a Half Shell in a non-animated setting since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows flopped in 2016.
It's also been revealed today that a new "Sonic Universe" movie has been dated for December 22, 2028. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is heading our way on March 19, 2027, likely meaning this is a spin-off revolving around another of the franchise's leads. Knuckles has already headlined a Paramount+ TV series, so Shadow taking centre stage seems likely.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 became the franchise's highest-grossing instalment with $218 million domestically and $422 million worldwide in 2024. Sonic the Hedgehog grossed $319 million globally in 2020, and the sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, topped that with $405 million. As a result, the series has now collectively passed $1 billion.
Paramount Pictures has previously said that the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has driven over $180 million in global consumer spending from home entertainment rentals and digital purchases. The Knuckles TV series was also a big draw for the Paramount+ streaming service.
There have been rumours from social media scoopers that the fourth movie will be the last one, though several spin-offs are thought to be planned, with this obviously the first of them.
Amy Rose and Metal Sonic were introduced in the threequel's post-credits scene. Discussing that, filmmaker Jeff Fowler said, "You don't want to paint yourself into a corner and put a character in there and then not know what you're going to do with it. But it's all very preliminary, and much more work needing to come in order to really get that process going."
"I love to just watch the fan conversation, and just see where things go. Obviously, casting is such a huge part of any of these characters, but it does kind of come from the needs of the story and of the script," he added. "So, I think I want to make sure that, whatever direction it goes, that it is servicing the character needs for whatever story is being told."
Stay tuned for updates on all these projects as we have them.