Good news for anyone struggling to enunciate the words "teenage" and "mutant", as Michael Bay has confirmed the upcoming Turtles movie will simply be titled Ninja Turtles.

The producer took to his official website once more to respond to angry fans, assuring them for a second time that the franchise is in good hands.

"Paramount marketing changed the name," he begins. "They made the title simple. The characters you all remember are exactly the same, and yes they still act like teenagers. Everything you remember, why you liked the characters, is in the movie."

"This script is being developed by two very smart writers, with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles. They care VERY MUCH about making this film for the fans. Everyone on this team cares about the fans. Just give them a chance. Jonathan [Liebesman] the director, is a major fan of the whole franchise. HE'S NOT GOING TO LET YOU DOWN."

You see, two words are much easier to say than four, so calling it Ninja Turtles is a good thing! Is it just us, or does Bay's tone come across as a mite patronising to the fans who will swell his production company's coffers?

In any case, Ninja Turtles (wow, that is easy to remember) is expected to arrive on 25 December 2013. Plenty of time for Bay to wind up the fans still further, then... Source: www.totalfilm.com

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could get Jonathan Liebesman [15th February 2012 00:00:00]

It's been almost a year since Paramount's long-in-pre-production Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot got writers in the form of M:I4 scribes Josh Appelbaum and Andr� Nemec. But the production may have finally found itself a director.

That director is Jonathan Liebesman, the fellow currently finishing off production on massive fantasy sequel Wrath Of The Titans. He's now in negotiations to helm the live-action TMNT reboot.

Which gives us some idea of what Paramount will be going for with the new half-shell heroes - namely massive action scenes and expensive special effects, both of which Liebesman has proved proficient with both in Wrath (as far as we can tell) and Battle: Los Angeles.

The previous TMNT films were never massive on extravagant action, though the fight scenes were integral to their storytelling. This new movie, though, has Michael Bay as a producer, which would explain the new 'bang for your buck' agenda.

Still, taking our heroes to the next level could provide the kind of popcorn entertainment recent summers have been sorely lacking. Let's see how this one plays out... Source: www.totalfilm.com