While there was initially a little uncertainty among fans, the first trailer for Seth Rogen's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem saw excitement for the movie definitely start to build.
This take on the iconic foursome will tell an original story following the crime-fighting Ninja Turtles as they protect the sewers and streets of New York City, with Micah Abbey (Donatello), Shamon Brown Jr. (Michelangelo), Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), and Brady Noon (Raphael) playing the four Heroes in a Half-Shell.
Rogen, who will also voice Bepop in the movie, recently spoke to Screen Rant (via Toonado.com) about his approach to Mutant Mayhem and why the creative team had to find the right balance between doing something new and giving fans what they want.
"I think it's putting a lot of thought into making a better version of it, [and] even then, people are projecting [what] it's going to be and at the same time giving them everything that they hope it's going to have," he said of tapping into the nostalgia factor for projects like this and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
"I think maybe early on our instincts maybe [were], 'Let's subvert it; let's make it really different.' And I think you do have to create something that's original, exciting, and creatively unique, but at the same time, it has to give people what they're really hoping they get from this stuff."
"With Ninja Turtles, it was really trying to honor everything I always loved about it [while] trying to infuse something new and exciting into it," Rogen added. "And luckily for us, no one had ever used actual teenagers before, and something very intuitive became something that really opened up our version; it feels like it makes it feel very unique."
This sounds like a solid approach and one that should ensure this animated take on the iconic team is better received than the live-action movies produced by Transformers helmer Michael Bay.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
Directed by Jeff Rowe from a screenplay by Brendan O'Brien, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is set to be released in theaters on August 4, 2023.