TMNT Set for New Live-Action Movie

LOS ANGELES: The Mirage Group has given the go-ahead for development of a live-action feature film that looks at the origins of the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with release slated for 2011.

Mirage is partnering with producers Scott Mednick (300, Superman Returns) and Galen Walker (who produced the most recent computer-animated TMNT theatrical release) to create the new live-action film. Peter Laird, Gary Richardson, Frederick Fierst, Eric Crown and Napoleon Smith III will serve as executive producers of the film.

This will be the fifth big-screen version centered on the crime-fighting foursome, which are celebrating their 25th anniversary with multiple events in New York City today, including the honor of lighting the Empire State Building in ‘turtle green’ and an outdoor presentation of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film at the Tribeca Film Festival Drive-In.

4Kids Entertainment is master licensing agency for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property, and will be handling all the movie merchandise licensing.

"It was critical to us to find people who both understood the Turtles franchise and were accomplished film makers who appreciated both the action and humor components of the Turtles’ identity," said Gary Richardson, the CEO of The Mirage Group. "With Galen and Scott we know we’ve found great talent with those essential attributes."

"The original dozen comics created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman are some of the best source material one could hope for," said Mednick. "We’re excited to bring this story to a whole new generation of moviegoers as well as the legions of fans that have made the Turtles—Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael as well as Splinter, April O’Neil, Casey Jones and, of course, the great villain Shredder—a part of their world for 25 years."