After a troubled production that would harsh even Michaelangelo's buzz, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles quieted the nay-sayers with a $65M opening weekend and $93M worldwide. That far exceeded analyst projects and Paramount isn't wasting any time in taking advantage of it, announcing that a sequel is already in development with a release date in sight.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 is set to open June 3rd 2016, which would put it up against Seth Rogen's R-rated animated comedy, Sausage Party. Michael Bay will again be co-producing through his Platinum Dunes banner, with co-writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec back to write the screenplay and exec-produce.
Here's what Adam Goodman, President of Paramount's film division, had to say on the rapid move on a sequel...
"Launching a new take on the Turtles into the feature film world was a daunting task because as fans of them ourselves, we felt a great responsibility to ensure audiences were going to experience everything they loved about the Turtles, while also getting to see them brought to life in a way they had never been seen before. The result exceeded our high expectations and the response to the film is beyond great, making it all the more fun to get started on the continuation of their story."
No word on whether Jonathan Liebesman will return to direct, or if any of the performance-capture actors will reprise their roles. There's also nothing on the return of Megan Fox but she would have to be expected to return as April O'Neil. [THR]
