The next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie to play on the big screen has gotten its official title. From Paramount Pictures, the animated feature film is scheduled to release in theaters on Aug. 4, 2023, and to mark the one-year countdown, the studio has officially unveiled the movie's title. As seen in the official logo above, the movie is called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
The film is a collaboration between Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Seth Rogen is producing with Evan Goldberg and James Weaver. Jeff Rowe is directing while Kyler Spears serves as co-director. Not much else has been revealed about the film beyond that it has a 2023 release date, but the filmmaker have done some teasing about what fans of the heroes in a half-shell can expect from their return to the big screen next year. The goal is for this film to start a new TMNT franchise by having this movie appeal to people of all ages, children and adults alike.
“It’s animated, and it goes back to the roots of the Turtles," Paramount chief Brian Robbins previously told Variety. "Seth and his producing partner Evan Goldberg were brilliant choices because no one can tell stories about being teenagers better than those guys. They’re passionate and super nerdy about the Turtles. It’s going to work for kids, parents, Gen Z-ers and Millennials. We have plans to do multiple animated movies this way, but one day we might go back to a hybrid live-action version of the Turtles.”
Heroes in a Half-Shell, Turtle Power!
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Earlier this year, Paramount Pictures announced that there are are several Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies in development, some of which will focus on different villains from the TMNT universe and which will stream on Paramount+ some time during 2023.
However, we’ve known for some time that there are also two theatrical Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies in the works — one a live-action reboot from SNL writers Casey and Colin Jost and producer Michael Bay, and the other a CG animated project from Seth Rogen.
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Unfortunately, we don’t know anything about the live-action reboot yet, other than that it will likely not be a continuation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014] and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows [2016], which failed to impress at the box office.
As for the CG film, a lot was recently unveiled by Paramount Pictures. Produced by comedy duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and co-directed by Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears, the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot now has an official title and release date.
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These were recently confirmed by Seth Rogen on Twitter, in a post that includes some funky, comic book/graffiti-inspired artwork for the movie that just “oozes” mutant mayhem.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is in theaters one year from today!!!!!”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is in theaters one year from today!!!!! pic.twitter.com/bm1jVyawa6
— Seth Rogen [@Sethrogen] August 4, 2022
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem [2023] will be released in theaters on August 4, 2023, and will be the seventh theatrical movie in the TMNT series.
It follows Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [1990], Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze [1991], Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III [1993], TMNT [2007], Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
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However, the film is not a continuation of either one of the two current theatrical timelines. While little is known about the plot, in an interview with Collider back in 2020, Seth Rogen said the following about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem:
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And last year, he tweeted bios for each of the Turtles, as well as excerpts from Leonardo’s journal, one of which can be seen below:
#TMNT pic.twitter.com/NXAIufxYMe
— Seth Rogen [@Sethrogen] June 1, 2021
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In February this year, two concept art images were leaked, both of which can be seen below in a tweet from GVN News:
“Concept art from Seth Rogen, Jeff Rowe and Evan Goldberg’s #TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles coming 2023”
Concept art from Seth Rogen, Jeff Rowe and Evan Goldberg’s #TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles coming 2023 pic.twitter.com/u0s6wPVVgL
— GVN News [@GeekVibesNews] February 16, 2022
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In an interview with Variety in June, Paramount’s chief Brian Robbins discussed the film, saying:
“It’s animated, and it goes back to the roots of the Turtles. Seth and his producing partner Evan Goldberg were brilliant choices because no one can tell stories about being teenagers better than those guys. They’re passionate and super nerdy about the Turtles. It’s going to work for kids, parents, Gen Z-ers and Millennials. We have plans to do multiple animated movies this way, but one day we might go back to a hybrid live-action version of the Turtles.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will be released in theaters on August 4, 2023. The film will feature a 2D-style animation similar to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [2018].
Are you excited for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem? Let us know in the comments down below!