Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the fifth film in the series and also a reboot that was released on August 8, 2014. The film was produced by Scott Mednick, Galen Walker and Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes. It is being funded through Lightbox Productions, LLC. Following the buyout by Viacom/Nickelodeon, the film, once slated for release in 2011, was pushed back one year, and the studio for the film was confirmed to be Viacom's Paramount Pictures. Late March saw the film pushed back again to 2012. Paramount then shot for a 2013 release, but it was later pushed back yet again to May 2014 Furthermore, the name of the film was originally shortened to just "Ninja Turtles", but was then given the title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The film got pushed back again for a June 2014 release date. In August of 2013, it was confirmed that it was pushed back once more, to August 2014. A sequel will be released on June 3, 2016.

Plot
April O'Neil, a reporter for Channel 6 news in New York, has been watching a mysterious organization called the Foot Clan terrorizing New York. She stumbles upon a robbery they are committing one night and notices a strange looking figure having foiled it. She tries reporting back to Channel 6 about her findings, but no one believes her.

The Foot Clan then terrorizes a subway next. She goes to the scene again in an attempt to find the vigilante and find evidence towards his existence. She sees four vigilantes this time, as they all fight off the clan and then disappear. She manages to spot them climbing atop the rooftop however, and tries to take a picture of them with her camera to prove to her co-workers they are real. They discover her and delete the camera images however, and tell her not to tell anyone of their existence or they will personally find her. She asks them who they are before they leave, and claim to be "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

She returns to her apartment and finds a July 1999 footage in her camera of a laboratory she was a part of when she was a little girl. She notices that the turtles she took care of from the laboratory 15 years earlier seem similar to the mutant turtles she had seen on the rooftop. She also remembers that her father was testing a type of Mutagen in the laboratory. She continues doing more research and eventually pieces together that the Ninja Turtles were the same ones from the laboratory.

She tries again to explain to her boss at Channel 6 news about the existence of the Ninja Turtles and that they are fighting secretly against the Foot Clan, but her boss now is so infuriated that she fires April. April thus tries explaining to her co-worker, Vern Fenwick, whom also has strong romantic feelings towards her, about her findings, but he also does not believe her. He does agree to take her to the old laboratory where she first owned the Turtles, however, and she finds her father's lab associate there, Eric Sacks.

April discusses the Ninja Turtles and how she believes they are fighting against the Foot Clan and shows an image to him of them. Sacks explains to her the history of their experiments with the mutagens, and that he and her now deceased father were planning on using them for healing properties. He realizes what must have happened and that the mutagen must have somehow affected the turtles when the laboratory was exploding and caused them to mutate into human like beings.

Meanwhile in the sewers, the Ninja Turtles tell their master, Splinter the truth about April having spotted them. Splinter orders they find April and bring her to their lair, as she is now in great danger from the Foot Clan since she made contact with the Turtles.

The Turtles find April and knock her out unconscious so she will be unaware of their lair's location. They take her to their master Splinter, who explains to her how she saved their lives from the laboratory by saving them from the fire and releasing them into the sewers. She tells them that she told her father's associate Eric Sacks about them, and was unaware that Sacks was actually allied with the Foot Clan's leader, the Shredder, whom Sacks then relayed the information to. Now that Shredder knew of their existence, he and his Foot Clan minions go into the sewer to capture them so they can use their mutagen to spread a deadly virus throughout New York. Splinter and the Turtles fight against them, but are ultimately defeated and their home destroyed. Shredder kidnaps three of the Turtles, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo and leaves Splinter greatly injured. Raphael is not captured because the Foot Clan believed he was already killed in the battle.

April managed to hide from the Foot Clan during the fight, and attempts to tend to Splinter's wounds. Raphael is then found and discovered to be alive. Splinter instructs Raphael and April to save the other three Turtles before Shredder can extract the mutagen from them that he plans to use to poison New York. April calls Vern to give them a ride to the laboratory where the other three Turtles are being held hostage.

When the trio arrives, April frees the other three Turtles while Raphael fights the Shredder. After they are freed, they join Raphael in fighting them. Shredder escapes after defeating them again however, and April leaves with the Turtles and Vernon to return to the Turtles' lair for a new plan. During the escape, they are pursued by Shredder's Foot Clan in trucks but eventually manage to defeat them.

At their lair in the sewers, the Turtles plan they will attempt to hold off against the Shredder on the rooftop of Sacks' building before he is able to finish extracting the mutagen he had acquired from them when he kidnapped them, while April and Vern attempt to gather the mutagen from inside the building. April eventually manages to acquire it and heads onto the rooftop to give it to the Turtles. While the Turtles hang from the rooftop, they manage to give April the momentum she needs to kick him off the building, finally defeating him as he falls onto the ground greatly injured and taken into authorities.

The film ends with Vernon attempting again to catch April's heart with a new car he had just bought, but the Turtles arrive in a new car they had just built and accidentally destroy it when Michelangelo presses the missile button. Vern begins getting very upset, as April gently begins swaying him away when he begins losing his temper while the Turtles offer her a ride in the new car, which she kindly rejects.

Cast

 * Johnny Knoxville - Leonardo (voice)
 * Pete Ploszek - Leonardo (motion capture)
 * Alan Ritchson - Raphael
 * Noel Fisher - Michelangelo
 * Jeremy Howard - Donatello
 * Megan Fox - April O'Neil
 * Malina Weissman - Young April
 * Will Arnett - Vern Fenwick
 * William Fichtner - Eric Sacks
 * Tony Shalhoub - Splinter (voice)
 * Danny Woodburn - Splinter (motion capture)
 * Tohoru Masamune - Shredder
 * Whoopi Goldberg - Bernadette Thompson
 * Minae Noji - Karai
 * Abby Elliott - Taylor
 * K. Todd Freeman - Baxter Stockman
 * Taran Killam - McNaughton
 * Paul Fitzgerald - Dr. O'Neil

Score
The film's score was composed by Brian Tyler. The soundtrack was released by Atlantic Records on August 5, 2014.[135]

Track listing All music composed by Brian Tyler.

Total length: 70:02
 * 1) "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (4:45)
 * 2) "Adolescent Genetically Altered Shinobi Terrapins" (4:31)
 * 3) "Splinter vs. Shredder" (6:25)
 * 4) "Origins" (6:02)
 * 5) "Brotherhood" (1:19)
 * 6) "Turtles United" (4:10)
 * 7) "Rise of the Four" (3:34)
 * 8) "The Foot Clan" (3:17)
 * 9) "Shellacked" (6:47)
 * 10) "Project Renaissance" (1:57)
 * 11) "Shortcut" (4:41)
 * 12) "Shredder" (5:59)
 * 13) "Cowabunga" (4:35)
 * 14) "99 Cheese Pizza" (1:49)
 * 15) "Adrenaline" (6:26)
 * 16) "Buck Buck" (4:11)
 * 17) "TMNT March" (2:07)

Songs

 * Dat Boom
 * Written by Brian Tyler
 * Performed by Madsonik
 * Courtesy of Madsonik Music
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Theme (Original Animated Series)
 * Written by Chuck Lorre and Dennis C. Brown
 * Hollaback Girl
 * Written by Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams
 * Performed by Gwen Stefani
 * Courtesy of Interscope Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises
 * Careless Whisper
 * Written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley
 * Performed by George Michael
 * Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd. & Columbia Records
 * By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
 * Happy Together
 * Written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon
 * Performed by The Turtles
 * Courtesy of Flo & Eddie, Inc.
 * Shell Shocked
 * Written by Seann Bowe, Tyrone Griffin Jr., Jordan Houston, Laura Raia, Jake Stanczak, **Cameron Jibril Thomaz and Brian Tyler
 * Produced by Kill the Noise and Madsonik
 * Performed by Juicy J, Moxie, Ty Dolla$ign, and Wiz Khalifa

Production
According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon have brought Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form on to produce Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the live-action film that reboots the film series launched by New Line in 1990. Bay, Fuller and Form will produce with Galen Walker and Scott Mednick. The studio originally hired Matt Holloway and Art Marcum to write the film for close to $1 million but they left the project. The Studio hired Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec to write the script for the film. According to Variety, Jonathan Liebesman is in talks to direct the film. Deadline reports that Paramount has a Christmas 2013 release date set for the film.

Michael Bay revealed at the 2012 Nickeloden Upfront on March 14, 2012 that the film will be titled "Ninja Turtles" and that the Turtles will no longer be mutants, but instead be members of an alien race. However, considering that Bay is not part of the creative process of the film, this remains to be seen. News of Bay's creative change was met with negative criticism from within the fan community. In response to the announcement, actor Robbie Rist who voiced Michelangelo the first three films, wrote to Bay accusing him of "sodomizing" the franchise. Rist later remarked that he could have been out of line since Bay makes more money then he does. In response to the feedback, Bay issued a statement asking fans to calm down since a script had not been revealed, his team was working closely with the creators, and would include all the elements that made them fans to begin with. Both Brian Tochi, who voiced Leonardo in the first three films, and Judith Hoag, who played April O'Neal in first film, have voiced their support towards the creative change. Co-creator and former rights holder Peter Laird expressed his thoughts on the change asking fans to take Bay's advice and wait until more of Bay's plan is made available. Laird also stated that he felt the "ill-conceived plan" was a "genius notion", as it would allow fans to have the multitude of bipedal anamorphic turtles that they have been asking for. He would point out that while the concept of a turtle planet back story made for a great run of the mill science fiction story, but it had no real place in the Ninja Turtles universe. Co-creator Kevin Eastman stated that he had been invited behind the scenes of the film, and concluded that he was official on board with the project and that, although he couldn't say much, he believes it to be "awesome". Via Twitter, Corey Feldman, who voiced Donatello in the first and third films, voiced his support for the film saying that he loves Bay's remakes and he is eager to reprise his role. In response to the backlash, Liebesman stated that he was glad to hear about the fan's response, since he and Eastman had been locked in a room working on ideas that, from his own perspective as a fan, everybody will love. If anything storywise were to be expanded upon, it would fit in perfectly with mythos. While he wouldn't confirm whether or not Bay's comment did represent the film's premise, he did stress on the ooze itself and its background in the original comic, reminding that the ooze was the product of alien technology. In regards to how the Turtles would be rendered, Liebesman would not say exactly what visual direction would be taken, but he did state that he did enjoy Weta Digital's work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He also pointed out that the film would not be exclusively about action but will also focus on brotherhood, friendship, and responsibility.

In late March Michael Bay posted on his website explaining the title change and stressing that nothing had changed regarding the Turtles. He stated the reason the title was shorten was at a request by Paramount to make the title "simple". He continued that the Turtle were the same as fans remember and regardless of the title change they still act like teenagers. He urged everyone to give everybody who was involved a chance, as they had the fans interest at top priority and would not let anybody down.

Eastman told Geekscape that the oozes are from an alien origin.

An April Fools' Day joke from Screen Rant that Taylor Lautner is cast as Leonardo in the film [http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/blast-from-past-579-may-28-2002-re.html#comment-form  Hip-Hop artist Kid Cudi was rumored for a role in the film. Fans of Community's Donald Glover wants the actor to play Donatello

On June 12, Eastman went on a live chat with The One Ring.net reveals some of the things for the film will includes, April will not be a sixteen year old like in the 2012 series, he thinks Ken Watanabe would make a great Shredder, he'd like to bring Ernie Reyes, Jr. back as a Foot lieutenant, and martial arts wise they are looking at Fist of Legend and The Raid: Redemption.

Three days later, it was reported that production for this project has been shut down. While the release date has been pushed back five months, the work stoppage for the film was said to be "indefinite". However, other sources say that the film will be released on May 16, 2014 due to problems in that script that need to be corrected.

Latino-Review looked at an early draft of the script for the film and revealed that Krang, The Technodrome, BEBOP and ROCKSTEADY & Dimension X were going to appear in the film.

Eastman talk with MTV about film saying that Easily The Best Turtle Movie Yet.

Actress Jessica Biel told Collider that she would like to play April O’Neil in the film.

Kevin Eastman mentioned to Comic Book Resources that the movie is creating its own story but has to be true to the source material or else they will get "f***ing murdered".

An early version of the script was leaked online, dated 1/30/12, titled "The Blue Door", and written by Appelbaum & Nemec, it features major changes to the origins, such as, the turtles are from an alien planet in Dimension X that consists of turtle warriors, Splinter is an alien from the same planet as well, Shredder is now "Colonel Schrader", a government agent who is secretly an alien who can grow blades from his body, "The Foot Clan" is now just "The Foot", a secret government agency led by Col. Schrader, Casey is an 18 year old security guard/amateur hockey player that finds the Turtles and is the focus of the movie, April is also 18 and is having relationship troubles with Casey because she's moving to New York due to an internship at CBS, Rapheal is now the comic relief instead of Mikey, Mikey falls in love with a turtle woman from his home planet. A cease and desist order was sent by Paramount Pictures to a website that was hosting the script. Peter Laird read the script and commented on his blog that "all true TMNT fans should be grateful to the new "powers that be" that they did not allow this wretched thing to go any further"

Peter Laird suggested that it might be CGI Turtles with Live Action Actors there was the idea of having Chris Evans and Sarah Michelle Gellar reprise their roles as Casey Jones and April O'Neil, but this was before Nickelodeon bought the rights to TMNT.

On February 21, 2013, Michael Bay revealed that Megan Fox will be in the cast, playing April O' Neal. On March 21, actor Alan Ritchson is cast as Raphael. That same month, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard and Noel Fisher are cast as Leonardo, Donatello and Michaelangelo. On April 2, 2013, Will Arnett is cast in a role that was being kept secret, but it was later revealed that he would be playing Vernon Fenwick.

The release date was pushed back again for a June 6, 2014 release date and reports surfaced that Evan Daugherty was brought on board to re-write the script. On April 15, actor Danny Woodburn has been cast as Master Splinter. On April 20, 2013, the film was renamed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On April 29, 2013, Michael Bay retracted comments that the turtles will be aliens.

On May 9, 2013, William Fichtner is cast in the film as a lead with iconic stature in the Turtles’ mythology and it was revealed that he's playing The Shredder.

On August 15, 2013, Paramount postponed the release date to August 8, 2014 to avoid competition from other family-friendly films released in June 2014 as well as one of Paramount's other releases, Transformers 4.

Filming wrapped on August 3, 2013.

In October 2013, William Fichtner confirmed that Bebop and Rocksteady would not be in the film.

In November 2013, a source very close to the production revealed that Casey Jones would not be appearing in the film either.

Additional filming occurred in January and April 2014.

In Feburary 2014, producer Walker posted on his Facebook page that the trailer of the film will be shown with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The trailer was released on March 27, 2014. That same day, it was revealed that Abby Elliott would be playing April O'Neil's roommate. Elliot later revealed that her character is a revamped version of Irma Langinstein, but her name is Taylor. On April 3, 2014, Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub joined the film as the voices Leonardo and Splinter respectively.

Trivia

 * Casting for Foot Clan roles were held when the Ninja Turtles 25th Anniversary Shell-Ebration stopped at Los Angeles. The people being casted were ordinary people on the street.
 * The filmmakers chose Weta Digital to do the VFX based on their work on Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
 * The filmmakers cite the martial arts films Fist of Legend and The Raid: Redemption as an influence on the action.
 * The release date of the film was changed to 2014, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original comic book series, the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" saga.
 * One of Michael Bay's earlier films, "Armageddon", featured a brief appearance by Judith Hoag, who played April O'Neil in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
 * Brett Ratner had been in talks to direct prior to Jonathan Liebesman being hired.
 * Jane Levy, Anna Kendrick, and Elizabeth Olsen tested for the part of April O'Neil.
 * April is seen to wear a yellow jacket. This pays homage to her appearance in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", where she prominently had on a yellow jumpsuit.
 * Ernie Reyes Jr., who starred in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" (and acted as a stunt double for Donatello in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"), pitched a stunt video to Michael Bay so that he could be martial arts consultant on this film.
 * The film is Nickelodeon Movies' third PG-13 rated film.
 * In Australia, the film is rated M, which is the first Nickelodeon Movies film to get this rating.
 * For the first time in the franchise the turtles' shells are bulletproof.
 * Michelangelo hits on April, much like the first 2 live-action movies.
 * The turtles and Splinter were created inside a laboratory, much like in the IDW comics.
 * This time the Foot Soldiers use guns as their primarly weapons, much like the Foot Soldiers from the 1987 TV series and their laser blasters.
 * The Turtle Assault Van's horn is the beginning of the 1987 series theme song.
 * When Splinter is telling April about how he raised the turtles there's a scene in his flashback where Leonardo appears slicing pizza in the air for his family and one of the pieces hits Splinter in the head is a reference to the 1990 film, where the same thing happens.
 * Eric Sacks says they considered using rabbits instead of turtles for the mutagen experiences, it can be interpreted as a reference to either Usagi Yojimbo or The Tortoise and the Hare tale.
 * The movie begins with a black and white comic book style montage as a reference to the original Mirage comics, but it gets a few colors making it look similar to the 2012 series' flashbacks.
 * Splinter and the turtles were laboratory experiments and named by April, much like in the IDW comics origin story.
 * The younger version of April says the mutagen came from outer space as a hint to the Utroms.
 * April was the one who introduced pizza to the turtles.
 * The scene where Raphael is walking disguised on the streets with April was cut off the final version, but it was a reference to the way the turtles used to disguise themselves in the 1987 series.
 * Michelangelo mentions a "Hip Hop Christmas Almbum" as a reference to the We Wish You a Turtle Christmas special.
 * At the end of the movie Michelangelo sings "Happy Together" to April, a song by a band called "The Turtles".
 * Vern refers to the turtles as "heroes in a half shell", which's a reference to the 80's theme song.
 * The "Cat Playing Keyboard with Chopsticks" video was based on a real internet hit known as The Keyboard Cat.

Errors

 * When the turtles are sneaking into the lair they say they've been to the surface twice, but when April is trying to convince Thompson about their existence she is showing several pictures of crime scenes, where the foot got their plans frustrated, with the turtles tag "family", it proves the turtles've been to the surface a few more times than they said they did.

Quotes
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)/Quotes

Gallery
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)/Gallery

Merchandise
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)/Merchandise

Games

 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 3DS game)
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Training Lair
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 mobile game)
 * Promotional Games
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue April
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ninja Training
 * Inside The Lair Tour
 * Super Sewer Scavenger Hunt

Videos
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)/Videos