The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated film coming from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg has a full title and a release date. The project will be titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem! and is set for release on August 4, 2023.
The new animated feature is said to be heading directly for a theatrical release, but plot details are currently being kept tightly under wraps. The project is one of two reboots currently in development, the other being a live-action project written by Colin Jost (SNL) and his brother Casey and will be produced by Michael Bay.
The new picture will be a CG animated feature produced as a collaboration between Nickelodeon Animation, Paramount Animation, and Point Grey Pictures. The project was initially announced in June 2020 with Rogen and Goldberg attached from the start. The focus is said to be more on the teenage aspect of the turtles, an aspect often overlooked or downplayed.
Director Jeff Rowe will be helming the project off of the huge success of The Mitchells VS The Machines on Netflix. The script will be written by Brendan O'Brien, writer of Neighbors and Neighbors 2 and a previous collaborator with Rogen and Goldberg. While there are no cast announcements as yet, Rogen has specifically requested that the titular turtles be voiced by actual teenagers, breaking from previous versions where adult actors have filled the roles.
At comic con in July 2022, TMNT creator Kevin Brooks Eastman said in an interview with IGN that he supported the reboot and praised Rogen for his vision for the film and for putting more emphasis on the teenage aspect of the heroes in a half shell. Paramount executive Brian Robbins has also stated that there is potential for future sequels based on Rogen and Goldberg's love of the franchise.
Animation on the project began in September 2021 and will purportedly feature a similar visual style to Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, with some designs based on sketches Rowe did in his notebook as a teenager. Rogen also teased the film back in June 2021 through Twitter with a picture of notes from Leonardo's notebook. At the time of the announcement, it is yet unknown who the villain of the film will be or which other classic characters will be included in the story.