*UPDATE* In Variety‘s report they claim the third Ninja Turtles will be a reboot of the franchise, not a sequel or followup of the previous two movies. No further details and we’ll wait and see if that holds up since there does seem to be some confusion about it. Original story is below.*
The heroes on the halfshell are coming back in all of their live-action glory. THR reports Paramount and Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes are developing a third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, hiring Bad Words writer Andrew Dodge to begin work on the script.
This is interesting because the first TMNT film in 2014 was a mild hit after loads of controversy surrounding its production. Remember Turtle-Gate? Anyway, it was arguably far worse than 2016’s sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, but the latter actually did less at the box office. So that puts Paramount in the odd position of following up a superior movie that wasn’t as much of a financial success as its predecessor.
When you think about it, though, this does make sense for Paramount. They have a number of marketable brands, like Transformers, GI Joe, MASK, and the newly-acquired Power Rangers. Those aren’t going to go anywhere and will be a cornerstone of the studio for a long time. TMNT is one of the most recognizable properties they have and continue to be popular in a variety of different formats. There’s no reason why that can’t happen on the big screen.
Will it be a sequel or a reboot, though? That much is still being tossed in the air like a slice Michaelangelo’s pizza. With Bay and Platinum Dunes involved I have to believe it will be a third chapter in the TMNT’s story.
