‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Sequel Set for 2016
Despite the smattering of negative reviews from critics, including
here,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a monstrous opening weekend. Raking in an estimated $65 million domestically, the Jonathan Liebesman directed reptilian revamp crushed last week's
Guardians of the Galaxy. Not a group to rest on their laurels, Paramount and the President of their Film Group, Adam Goodman announced yesterday that the sequel is set for June 3rd, 2016. In the story broken by
Deadline, Goodman was quoted as saying:
"Launching a new take on the Turtles into the feature film world was a daunting task because as fans of them ourselves, we felt a great responsibility to ensure audiences were going to experience everything they loved about the Turtles, while also getting to see them brought to life in a way they had never been seen before. The result exceeded our high expectations and the response to the film is beyond great, making it all the more fun to get started on the continuation of their story.”
While there is no word yet if Liebesman will direct, Michael Bay's production company, Platinum Dunes and screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and André Nemek are slated to return.
Debuting in 17 markets worldwide to a tune of $28 million, the
TMNT reboot made almost $100 million worldwide. Marking the second Summer mega-hit of 2014 for Michael Bay (
Transformers: Age of Extinction opened to $95 million), the director/producer shows no signs of slowing down. Showing strong numbers in both child-heavy matinee markets, as well as the late night shows designed for more mature audiences,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seems to have struck a chord with viewers of all ages.