Kevin Eastman Explains ‘NINJA TURTLES’ Reboot Delay [MOVIE]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans emitted cries of “Excellent!” following the initial announcement that Platinum Dunes’ Ninja Turtles reboot (or should it be called Ninja Aliens?) is on hold indefinitely, thanks to Paramount’s concerns over the script. The feeling of victory quickly dissipated, once later reports confirmed the live-action project has simply been pushed back to May 2014.
TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman is collaborating on Ninja Turtles with producer Michael Bay and director Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans), as well as writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol). Eastman is operating in damage control mode, putting forth an upbeat outlook in the aftermath of Bay’s not-so-successful attempts to assuage fan outrage.

Eastman is writing and drawing a full-length TMNT comic story for the first time, as will be featured in the upcoming “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2012″ this October. He offered CBR an update on the developing Ninja Turtles live-action reboot, while discussing the impending comic publication, saying:

“I talked to [producer] Scott Mednick yesterday, and he’s seen the most recent 50 [script] pages and said it’s as good as the last version — they’ve really knocked it out of the park. I’ve seen a chunk of it, and it’s going to be a great movie, despite what everybody thinks.”

Well, that’ll surely quell upset fans, right? Moving on…

The production start date for Ninja Turtles had reportedly been delayed by some 10 weeks, resulting in the more drastic release date reshuffling. Initial claims of substantial script rewrites being the cause have been dismissed, with the new explanation being that Paramount wants the budget trimmed to $125 million (it was approaching $150 million).

Source: SCREENRANT