Even though Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are producing a new animated movie boasting plenty of comedic talent with Neighbors co-writer Brendan O’Brien on scripting duties and The Mitchells vs. the Machines‘ Jeff Rowe set to direct that’s coming to theaters in August 2023, it was inevitable that we’d also be getting a live-action reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In fact, it was just two years after Dave Green’s sequel Out of the Shadows had struggled at the box office by earning almost $250 million less than Jonathan Liebesman’s opener that Paramount once again signaled their intentions to wipe the slate clean and bring Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael back in double quick time, but development has been slow since then.
Until now, that is, after Saturday Night Live veteran Colin Jost was tasked to crack the story with his brother Casey, a longtime producer on Impractical Jokers. While further details remain thin on the ground, given the Jost brothers’ background in comedy that’s seen Colin nab an Emmy and five Writers Guild of America awards for his work on SNL, it would be safe to assume their take will be a lot lighter in tone than the previous duology produced by Michael Bay, which took itself very seriously on occasion.
Bay’s Platinum Dunes are involved in the latest stab at reinventing the property, though, even if it isn’t expected to pick up from where Out of the Shadows left off. In terms of the studio’s theatrical and streaming lineup, Paramount are doubling down on either rebooting or sequelizing a ton of their most well-known properties, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles certainly ticks that box having been a mainstay of pop culture for well over 30 years.