''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is a 2014 American
superhero film directed by
Jonathan Liebesman, written by
Josh Appelbaum,
André Nemec, and
Evan Daugherty. It is a
reboot of the
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' film series, which is based on
the comic book characters created by
Kevin Eastman and
Peter Laird. The film stars
Megan Fox,
Will Arnett,
William Fichtner,
Danny Woodburn,
Abby Elliott,
Noel Fisher,
Jeremy Howard,
Pete Ploszek
Peter Daniel Ploszek (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor best known for his role as Leonardo in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' films. He is also known for his role as Garrett Douglas on the MTV supernatural drama series ''Teen Wolf ...
, and
Alan Ritchson, with the voices of
Johnny Knoxville and
Tony Shalhoub.
The film was announced shortly before Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird sold the rights to the characters to
Nickelodeon in October 2009. It was released on August 8, 2014, by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.
The film received negative reviews from critics for its inconsistent tone and poor characterization, although it became a box office success and earned $493.3 million on a $125–150 million budget, becoming the highest-grossing film of the series and the highest-grossing film from
Nickelodeon Movies.
A sequel, ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows'', was released in June 2016.
Plot
April O'Neil, a local reporter for Channel 6
Eyewitness News
''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television news presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action video, replacing the older "man-on-camera" newscast.
History Pioneered by Westinghouse
The earliest known use of the ''Eyewitness New ...
in
New York City, investigates a crime wave by a group of criminals called the
Foot Clan. At a dock at night, she sees the Foot raiding cargo containers. After an unseen
vigilante attacks the thieves, April notices a symbol left behind. April's supervisor
Bernadette Thompson and her coworkers are oblivious to her story. Later while covering a charity event thrown by Sacks Industries, April expresses gratitude to the company's
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Eric Sacks, who was her late father's lab partner.
Frustrated by the vigilante, the Foot Clan's leader
Shredder has the Foot Soldiers take hostages at subway station in order to draw him out. April, at the scene, becomes a hostage herself. Four mysterious figures arrive, take out the Clan, and free the hostages. April follows them to a rooftop and is shocked to see that the vigilantes are
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
mutant
turtles, causing her to pass out. When she regains consciousness, they advise her not to tell anyone of them. As they leave, April hears
Raphael and
Leonardo
Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard
Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname.
The given name and surname originate ...
's names.
April returns to her apartment and remembers "Project Renaissance", her father's science experiment, which involved four turtles named
Leonardo
Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard
Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname.
The given name and surname originate ...
,
Donatello,
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
,
Raphael, and a mutated rat called
Splinter. Unable to convince Bernadette of the Turtles' existence, April is dismissed. Her coworker
Vern Fenwick drives her to Sacks' estate where she confides in him about her discovery. Sacks believes her and reveals that he and April's father had been experimenting on a mutagen created to cure disease, which was thought lost in the fire that killed her dad.
At Splinter's behest, the Turtles bring April to their sewer lair. Splinter explains April had saved them all from the fire and free them into the sewer. The mutagen caused the five of them to grow and develop humanoid attributes. Splinter took on the role of their father, using April's father as an example. After finding a book on
Ninjutsu in a storm drain, he proceeded to teach himself, then the Turtles, the fighting style. When April reveals she told Sacks about her discovery of the Turtles, Splinter informs her that Sacks was practically raised by the Shredder and works with him.
Then, Shredder and the Foot Soldiers attack the lair, defeating Splinter and incapacitating Raphael while the other Turtles are captured. April comes out of hiding and she and Raphael plan to save the others. At Sacks' estate, he has the Turtles' blood drained in order to create an antidote to a deadly virus that Sacks hopes to flood New York with, believing he will become rich from people seeking his cure. Raphael, April, and Vern storm the estate and free the other Turtles. The group then escapes the compound in pursuit of Sacks.
On a radio tower in the city, Sacks and Shredder plant a device that will flood the city with the virus while Sacks is preparing to convert the mutagen into a healing serum. Sacks reveals to April that he killed her father. April and Vern subdue Sacks in the lab, while the Turtles are battling Shredder on the roof. During the fight, the tower's support beams collapse. As the turtles try to keep it from falling and infecting the city, April confronts Shredder with the mutagen. In the struggle, the tower collapses and the Turtles pull April onto it with them, while Shredder falls to the street and is captured by the police. Believing they are about to die, the Turtles confess their secrets, while Raphael gives an impassioned speech about his love for his brothers before they land harmlessly on the street. They vanish before the humans find them and return to the sewers, where they give Splinter the mutagen and he begins to recover.
Sometime later, April meets with Vern, who tries and fails to ask her on a date. The Turtles appear in a special modified "Turtle Van", and Michelangelo accidentally blows up Vern's new car with a rocket. As the police respond to the explosion, the Turtles leave, but not before Mikey tries to serenade April with "
Happy Together" by the band
The Turtles, much to his brothers' annoyance and April's amusement.
Cast
Voice actors and Motion-capture
*
Pete Ploszek
Peter Daniel Ploszek (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor best known for his role as Leonardo in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' films. He is also known for his role as Garrett Douglas on the MTV supernatural drama series ''Teen Wolf ...
(motion-capture) and
Johnny Knoxville (voice) as
Leonardo
Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard
Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname.
The given name and surname originate ...
, the leader of the Ninja Turtles.
*
Jeremy Howard as
Donatello, the scientist of the Ninja Turtles.
*
Alan Ritchson as
Raphael, the aggressive member of the Ninja Turtles.
*
Noel Fisher as
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
, the childish member of the Ninja Turtles.
*
Danny Woodburn (motion-capture) and
Tony Shalhoub (voice) as
Splinter, a mutant rat who is the adoptive father and sensei of the Ninja Turtles.
Live-action
*
Megan Fox as
April O'Neil, a reporter for Channel 6 News.
*
Will Arnett as Vern Fenwick, April's co-worker.
*
William Fichtner as Eric Sacks, the CEO of Sacks Industries with ties to the Foot Clan.
*
Tohoru Masamune as
The Shredder, the leader of the Foot Clan.
*
Whoopi Goldberg as Bernadette Thompson
*
Minae Noji as
Karai, a member of the Foot Clan.
*
Abby Elliott as Taylor, April's roommate.
*
Taran Killam as Jim McNaughton
*
K. Todd Freeman
Kenneth Todd Freeman (born July 9, 1965) is an American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards over the course of his career and has won one Drama Desk Award. He has played supporting roles in films such as ''Grosse Pointe Blank'' (1997 ...
as
Dr. Baxter Stockman, a scientist that works at Sacks Industries who is briefly seen in flashbacks.
*
Paul Fitzgerald as Dr. O'Neil, the late father of April O'Neil
*
Chance Kelly as Mr. Rivetti
*
Derek Mears as Dojo Ninja
*
Kevin Eastman as Himself (credited as "Doctor")
Production
Development
In October 2009, following the news of
Nickelodeon purchasing all of
Mirage Studios' rights to the ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' property, Nickelodeon was also involved to produce a new film through corporate sibling
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
with an expected release date sometime in 2012.
In late May 2010, Paramount and Nickelodeon had brought
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
and his
Platinum Dunes partners
Andrew Form and
Brad Fuller on to produce the next film that would
reboot the film series. For the script, the studio originally hired
Art Marcum and Matt Holloway to write the film. A year later, the studio turned to writers
Josh Appelbaum and
André Nemec to rewrite the script. In February 2012,
Jonathan Liebesman began negotiations to direct the film, beating out
Brett Ratner. Later in March, Paramount pushed back the film's release date to Christmas Day 2013. In early March 2012, Bay revealed at Nickelodeon's 2012
upfront presentation that the film will be simply titled ''Ninja Turtles'' and that the turtles would be "from an alien race". News of Bay's creative change was met with criticism from within the fan community.
In response to the announcement, actor
Robbie Rist, who voiced
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
in 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 than 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
Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard
Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname.
The given name and surname originate ...
in the first three films, and
Judith Hoag, who played
April O'Neil in the
1990 film, have voiced their support towards the creative change. ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' co-creator
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" could be a "genius notion", as it would allow fans to have the multitude of bipedal anthropomorphic turtles that they have been asking for. He would point out that while the concept of a turtle-planet backstory made for a great run-of-the-mill science fiction story, it had no real place in the ''Ninja Turtles'' universe.
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' co-creator
Kevin Eastman stated that he had been invited behind the scenes of the film, and concluded that he was officially on board with the project and that, although he could not say much, he believed 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 fans' response, since he and Eastman had been locked in a room working on ideas that, from his own perspective as a fan, everybody would love. While he didn'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 enjoyed
Weta Digital's work in ''
Rise of the Planet of the Apes''. He also pointed out that the film wasn't to be exclusively about action but also to focus on brotherhood, friendship, and responsibility.
Bay posted on his website explaining the title change and stressing that nothing had changed regarding the Turtles. He also said the reason the title was shortened was a request by Paramount to make the title "simple". He continued that the Turtles 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 revealed some of the things for the film stating that April would not be 16 years old like in the
2012 cartoon series, he feels
Ken Watanabe would make a great Shredder, he would like to bring Reyes back as a Foot lieutenant, and martial arts wise they are looking at ''
Fist of Legend'' and ''
The Raid: Redemption''. Eastman called it "easily the best Turtle movie yet". Kevin Eastman stated that the movie is creating its own story but has to be true to the source material or else they will get "murdered".
In August 2012, an early version of the script, dated January 30, titled "''The Blue Door''" and written by Appelbaum and Nemec, was leaked online. It featured major changes to the origins: the Turtles hail from another dimension that consists of turtle warriors,
Splinter is an alien from the same dimension as well,
Shredder is "Colonel Schrader", a government agent who is secretly an alien who can grow blades from his body, "The Foot Clan" is just "The Foot", an elite Black Ops unit led by Col. Schrader,
Casey Jones is an 18-year-old security guard/amateur ice hockey player that finds the Turtles and is the focus of the film, April is also 18 and is having relationship troubles with Casey because she is moving to
New York City due to an internship at
CBS, Raphael is the comic relief instead of Michelangelo, and Michelangelo 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". In response to ''The Blue Door'', Bay stated that the draft had been written before he and Platinum Dunes joined the project and was promptly rejected sometime before. The filming started in April 2013 in New York. The studio pushed back the film's release date until June 6, 2014, and a new writer,
Evan Daugherty, was brought on board, but Paramount postponed the release date again to August 8, 2014, in order to avoid competition with family-friendly films released in June as well as one of Paramount and Michael Bay's other releases, ''
Transformers: Age of Extinction''.
Casting
Megan Fox was cast as April O'Neil in February 2013,
marking her first collaboration with Bay since her remark comparing him to
Adolf Hitler.
Bay had confirmed Fox was back on good terms with him as early as April 2011.
Jessica Biel had expressed interest in playing the part. In regards to Fox's casting, Laird commented that he felt there were better choices to play April, but that he would prefer not to get too worked up over the issue.
Alan Ritchson,
Pete Ploszek
Peter Daniel Ploszek (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor best known for his role as Leonardo in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' films. He is also known for his role as Garrett Douglas on the MTV supernatural drama series ''Teen Wolf ...
,
Jeremy Howard and
Noel Fisher were cast as Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo respectively the following month.
In early April,
Will Arnett was cast in a role that was being kept secret until leaked photos revealed that he had been cast as April's cameraman and rival,
Vern Fenwick. Soon after that, actor
Danny Woodburn joined the cast as
Splinter.
In early May,
William Fichtner was cast in the film as "a lead with iconic stature in the Turtles' mythology", marking his third collaboration with Bay following ''
Armageddon'' and ''
Pearl Harbor''.
His character was revealed to be named "Eric Sacks". At this point in production Sacks was intended to be the film's version of the Shredder, but that idea was subsequently abandoned in favour of casting actor
Tohoru Masamune as an authentically Japanese incarnation of the character. The movie underwent reshoots to change this element of the plot, with Sacks being changed to the Shredder's adopted son.
Also in May, former ''
Saturday Night Live'' star
Abby Elliott was cast in the film. Also,
Whoopi Goldberg appeared on set, portraying Bernadette Thompson, a female version of
Burne Thompson. William Fichtner revealed that
Bebop and Rocksteady
Bebop and Rocksteady are a fictional duo of a mutant warthog and mutant rhinoceros that have made appearances as characters in various media releases of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The two characters are henchmen who follow the ...
would not be appearing in the film, who appeared later in the sequel. Abby Elliott played April O'Neil's roommate, named as Taylor. Other actors
Johnny Knoxville and
Tony Shalhoub joined the film to dub Ploszek and Woodburn as the voices of Leonardo and Splinter respectively.
Filming
Principal photography commenced on March 22, 2013, in
Tupper Lake, New York. Shooting began in April in New York City and at
Jones Beach State Park
Jones Beach State Park (colloquially "Jones Beach") is a state park in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located in southern Nassau County, New York, Nassau County on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island linked to Long Island by ...
in
Wantagh on
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
under the code words "four squared" (4SQ). On April 20, the film was renamed ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. Michael Bay retracted comments that the turtles would be aliens. Early set photos were made public showing the turtles' actors in black and grey motion capture suits, complete with life-sized turtle shells, with each actor wearing armbands and accents of their corresponding turtle's signature color. Brazilian cinematographer
Lula Carvalho, who was invited to work in the film during production of
the 2014 remake of ''RoboCop'', described the process as "demanding much imagination and participation of the visual effects supervisor", given that despite their presence on the set the actors would effectively be replaced by computer-generated creatures. Production for the film wrapped on August 6, 2013. Additional filming occurred in January and April 2014.
According to co-star
Alan Ritchson, who played one of the turtles,
Raphael, in the movie and
its sequel, Alan hated working on the film and its sequel because of the production issues going on. At first, Alan Ritchson was not sure about playing Raphael because he didn't want to play a
motion-capture character, but the promise of being a star-making career move by the producers,
Paramount, and pleasing his son, a huge
TMNT
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after ...
fan, convinced him to accept the part. The TMNT actors were then not given the same special treatments as their live-action co-stars
Megan Fox and
Will Arnett and often seemed to be mistreated and afterthought by most of the producers (including
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
) and
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
during and after filming of both movies, not even allowing many opportunities to do press for the picture and were not invited to the premiere as promised and instructed them to not give press interviews while claiming they (the turtles) were the ones refusing to give interviews but denying saying they wanted interviews. Ritchson personally emailed the late
Brad Grey many times about the situation, Alan did not want to return as Raphael after having an unhappy experience making the first movie, but was bound by his contract to do so and then was promised it would not happen again on the sequel and then will be giving interviews for the film sequel and even made appearances at the film sequel's premieres, but nothing much changed during filming the sequel either.
Visual effects
The visual effects of ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' were handled by
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
, who had previously worked with Michael Bay and Nickelodeon before, doing the special effects for ''
The Island The Island(s) may refer to:
Places
* Any of various islands around the world, see the list of islands
* The Island (Cache County, Utah), an island on the Bear River, Utah
* The Island, Chennai, a river island in India
* The Island, Chicago, a n ...
'', the ''
Transformers'' film series, ''
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'', ''
The Spiderwick Chronicles
''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' is a series of children's fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spid ...
'', ''
The Last Airbender
''The Last Airbender'' is a 2010 American action-adventure fantasy film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Based on the first season of the Nickelodeo ...
'', and also the animation for the 2011 film ''
Rango''. To make sure the digital turtles had more nuanced facial expressions, the technicians employed a new motion capture system that captured the actors' faces with two high-definition cameras, which captured roughly 1
terabyte of data per day. Along with a more realistic design, the effects artists wanted the Ninja Turtles to be "charming, intimidating and individually recognizable". Thus, each had a distinctive body figure resembling their personalities and physicality. According to effects supervisor Pablo Helman, "Donatello is more like a
basketball player, Raph is more like a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player and Mikey is a very short
Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine Professionalism in association football, professional footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for club Paris Saint-Germain F.C ...
and plays
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
".
Music
The film's score was composed by
Brian Tyler. The soundtrack was released by
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
on August 5, 2014. Prior to that on July 21, a single titled "
Shell Shocked
Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...
" by
Juicy J,
Wiz Khalifa, and
Ty Dolla $ign featuring
Kill the Noise and Tyler (credited as Madsonik) was released, as a part of the movie's soundtrack.
Release
Marketing
A
teaser trailer for the film was shown at Cinema Con on March 24, 2014, before its public release on March 27. The trailer reached over 31.4 million views on
YouTube in its first week. On April 13, the first TV spot for the movie was released. A second version of the teaser trailer was released on April 30. Footage of the film was shown at CineEurope with an introduction from
Megan Fox.
Playmates Toys produced a new product line of toys based entirely on the film, including action figures, vehicles and role-play gear. Nickelodeon Consumer Products also announced a complete merchandise lineup of movie-based products that will be available in all major retailers from July 2014 through the holiday season. Paramount released a new trailer which includes the single "Reptile's Theme Song" by Skrillex. On July 7,
Pizza Hut announced a new advertising campaign for the film, which included the return of the chain’s Cheesy Bites Pizza, social media contests themed around the film, and a television advertisement featuring the new movie incarnations of the characters. Four motion posters of the turtles were released and new TV spot debuted that day as well. An extended behind-the-scenes featurette was shown after the
2014 Kids' Choice Sports
The 1st Annual Kids' Choice Sports was held on July 17, 2014, at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. Hall of Fame Athlete/Talk Show host Michael Strahan hosted the ceremony to celebrate kids’ favorites in the sports world.Amanda Kon ...
. An extended TV spot debuted the following day. Paramount promoted the film on July 24 at 2014
San Diego Comic-Con International. Five new TV spots were released that day as well. The music video for the song, "Shell Shocked" debuted on July 28.
Pentatonix
Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) is an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, currently consisting of vocalists Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Matt Sallee. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements ...
released a new song titled "We Are Ninjas" and a music video as part of the promotion for the film on August 4.
In Australia, a poster was released which featured the four turtles jumping from an exploding skyscraper as a promotion for its September 11 release.
The poster offended many people since the
World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001 during the
September 11 attacks.
[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Poster Removed From Social Media Amid Backlash for 9/11 Imagery](_blank)
E! Online, Retrieved July 29, 2014 Paramount apologized and removed the poster.
Theatrical
The release date was moved around several times until it was set for August 8, 2014.
The film premiered on July 29 in Mexico City.
Premiere events also occurred in
Los Angeles and
New York City. On September 12, the film was released in
IMAX 3D
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
for a one-week limited engagement.
Home media
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' was released on Digital HD on November 25, 2014, and was released on
DVD and
Blu-ray (2D and 3D) on December 16, 2014. The film topped the home video sales charts in its first week and achieved the highest ratio of disc sales to theatrical tickets sales its first week in stores. It retained the top spot on the home video sales chart in its second weekend.
Reception
Box office
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' grossed $191.2 million in North America and $302.1 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $493.3 million, against a budget of $125 million.
''
Deadline Hollywood'' calculated the net profit of the film to be $81.3million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.
On its opening day, the film grossed $25.6 million, including $4.6 million from Thursday night showings. In its first weekend, ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' opened in first place with $65.6 million,
which exceeded Paramount and box office analysts's predictions of a $40 to $45 million opening, and achieved the fourth highest weekend debut for the month of August.
The movie remained at the number one spot in its second weekend by grossing $28.5 million (down 56.5%), but slipped to number two for its third weekend (grossing $16.7 million, down 41.4%), as ''
Guardians of the Galaxy'' reclaimed the top spot.
The film led the foreign box office during the weekend lasting from October 31 through November 2, 2014, by grossing $34.7 million ($26.5 million coming from China).
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews from critics, with an average score of . The site's critical consensus reads: "Neither entertaining enough to recommend nor remarkably awful, ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' may bear the distinction of being the dullest movie ever made about talking bipedal reptiles."
On
Metacritic, the film has a score of 31 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on a scale of A+ to F.
Kyle Smith of the ''
New York Post'' gave the film one out of four stars, saying "the comedy-action mash-up is as weird as if the
Dark Knight took a break from belting the
Joker to plug Pizza Hut and bang out a hiphop beat on his nunchucks". Sandie Angulo Chen of ''
The Washington Post'' gave the film two out of four stars, saying "while this reboot is fun, it's also forgettable and occasionally infuriating". Joe Neumaier of the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' gave the film zero stars, saying "even youngsters may wonder why any hint of charm or fun has scurried away. Those new to the franchise may withdraw their head into their neck, turtle-like". Rafer Guzman of ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars: "Rougher and slightly funnier than the
1990 original, but still harmless junk at best". Peter Howell of the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' gave the film one and half stars out of four: "Not much of an effort is made to differentiate the personalities of the turtles, who all frankly look as grotesque as a
Terry Gilliam cartoon". Nicolas Rapold of ''
The New York Times'' said: "Attached to this movie, the title no longer sounds zany; it looks like a series of keywords". Mark Olsen of the ''
Los Angeles Times'' said that "there is something half-hearted about the entire film, as if those behind it were involved not because they wanted to make it, not because they should make it, but just because they could". Kyle Anderson of ''
Entertainment Weekly'' gave the film a C+, saying "too-brief thrills only shine a harsher light on the film's laborious pacing and cringeworthy one-liners spilling from the maws of the ninja teens".
Nancy Churnin of ''
The Dallas Morning News'' gave the film a B, writing: "The turtles (engagingly voiced by Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Johnny Knoxville and Jeremy Howard) look terrific" and "the best part is that the film has heart". Justin Lowe of ''
The Hollywood Reporter'' gave the film a positive review, writing "Liebesman relies on his genre-film resume to keep events moving at a brisk clip and the motion-capture process employed to facilitate live-action integration with cutting-edge VFX looks superior onscreen". Justin Chang of ''
Variety'' said the film is "neither a particularly good movie nor the pop-cultural travesty that some were dreading". A.A. Dowd of ''
The A.V. Club'' gave the film a C+: "What the new ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' lacks is not fidelity, but a spirit of genuine boyish fun -- the sense that anyone involved saw more than a very specific shade of green in the freshly digital scales of these 30-year-old characters". Soren Anderson of ''
The Seattle Times'' gave the film one out of four stars: "If ever there was a movie that should not have been made, this is that movie". Drew Hunt of ''
Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...
'' wrote that "the light, comedic tone is weighed down by unimaginative pop-culture references and half-witted one-liners". Bill Goodykoontz of ''
The Arizona Republic'' gave the film two out of five stars, saying: "It's just kind of a mess, as unfocused and immature as the four mutant turtles at its core. Stuff happens, stuff blows up and this is probably a good time to mention that Michael Bay produced the film". Alonso Duralde of ''
The Wrap'' gave the film a negative review, writing "''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is a movie that takes its characters and its premise seriously, until it doesn't, and that operates at two speeds: tortoise (ponderous) and hare (head-spinning)".
Adam Graham of ''
The Detroit News'' gave the film a B−: "There's enough turtle power to please kids and fans of the
original series". Steven Rea of ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer'' gave the film two out of four stars: "The kind of clichéd, misfit crimefighters-versus-demented villains scenario that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird happily parodied when they came up with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic books way back in the 1980s". Tom Russo of ''
The Boston Globe'' gave the film one and a half stars out of five, describing "the repartee, as ever, is weak. Even with all the extra layers of digital detail, it's still tough to keep these four straight". Cliff Lee of ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' gave the film one and a half stars out of four, writing "for having gone to the trouble of making a self-descriptive movie called ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', its producers seem ultimately unsure about its most basic concept".
James Berardinelli of ''
ReelViews
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
'' gave the film one and a half stars out of four: "''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' doesn't so much provide brainless enjoyment as it pummels the viewer into submission. "Shell-shocked" is a reasonable description of the experience". Chris Cabin of ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' gave the film one out of four stars: ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' only leaves one with the dim afterglow of forced normalcy, of a film so overworked to ensure mass-market appeal that it loses the charming oddness and loose goofiness that has allowed these characters, and their "frothy" appeal, to endure".
Accolades
Video games
Activision released a
Nintendo 3DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
game developed by Magic Pockets based on the film on August 8, 2014, to coincide with the movie. A mobile game, also based on the film, was released on July 24.
Sequel
Noel Fisher revealed in an interview that all four of the turtle actors have signed on for three films.
Liebesman and Fuller have confirmed that Casey Jones as well as Bebop and Rocksteady will appear in the sequels.
There were also plans for
Krang and
Dimension X in the sequels as well. Shortly after the release of the film, Paramount announced that a sequel will be released on June 3, 2016, with Michael Bay returning as producer and Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec coming back as screenwriters and executive producers.
Fox and Arnett returned in the sequel along with the character Shredder.
Dave Green, director of ''
Earth to Echo'', directed the sequel.
Several new actors appeared for a sequel:
Victoria's Secret's supermodel
Alessandra Ambrosio was cast as herself and a love interest to Vern, also
Los Angeles Clippers and
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...
players
DeAndre Jordan,
Matt Barnes,
JJ Redick,
Austin Rivers and
Spencer Hawes made cameos in the film.
Stephen Amell has been cast as Casey Jones.
Tyler Perry was cast as
Baxter Stockman and
Brian Tee portrayed Shredder in the sequel.
Gary Anthony Williams and
Stephen "Sheamus" Farrelly were cast as Bebop and Rocksteady respectively. Brittany Ishibashi also replaced Noji as Karai in the sequel. Johnny Knoxville did not return to voice Leonardo in the sequel as he was not asked to reprise the role.
Instead,
Pete Ploszek
Peter Daniel Ploszek (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor best known for his role as Leonardo in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' films. He is also known for his role as Garrett Douglas on the MTV supernatural drama series ''Teen Wolf ...
did both motion-capture and voice.
References
External links
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File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film series)
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Films with screenplays by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec
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