Paramount appears to be taking cues from Lucasfilm and is counting their chickens before their eggs have even hatched by greenlighting a sequel to the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem film as well as a TV series before the first film has even hit theaters.
Variety’s Brent Lang reports Paramount greenlit a sequel to Seth Rogen’s upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem animated film as well as a two season animated series that “will serve as a ‘bridge’ between the films.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem director Jeff Rowe will return for the sequel. As for the two season TV series it will be helmed by Chris Yost and Alan Wan. Voice actors Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon will reprise their roles as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in both the planned sequel as well as the streaming series.
Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins informed Variety, “In the nearly 40 years since ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ launched into the zeitgeist, it has entertained generations of fans and only continues to grow.”
He added, “We are excited to grow TMNT’s legacy in partnership with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg at Point Grey, and Jeff Rowe, who are innovating the franchise with their singular brand of humor and elevated storytelling for audiences everywhere, across virtually every platform.”
Paramount Animation & Nickelodeon Animation President Ramsey Naito also added, “Reinvigorating this franchise has been years in the making, and we are thrilled to continue expanding the beloved ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ universe and bringing new adventures to families and fans.”
Paramount previously announced back in February 2022 that they would be expanding on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise with Nickelodeon Animation creating “a series of exclusive movies for Paramount+ beginning in 2023, each centering on one of the property’s storied villains in never-before-told tales.”
It’s unclear if these movies are still in the works or if production and budgetary concerns have shifted over to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem sequel and the two season series.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem reportedly has an estimated production budget between $70 million and $80 million. That means the film needs to gross between $175 million and $200 million worldwide to break even.
Initial long-range box office predictions for the film from Box Office Pro claim the film will have a domestic opening weekend between $27 million and $36 million and that it will go on to earn $101 million and $145 million domestically.
The last time the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were in theaters was back in 2016 with the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. The film only grossed $82 million domestically, but brought in another $164.2 million internationally for a global gross of $245 million.
The last Turtles animated feature to hit the big screen was TMNT in 2007. The film grossed $54.1 million domestically and another $41.9 million internationally for a global gross of $96 million.
The highest grossing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The film grossed $191.2 million domestically and another $293.8 million internationally for a global gross of $485 million.
Given Box Office Pro’s current long-range predictions, it looks like the film’s will be profitable. However, profitability for one film does not mean moviegoers will want more of the same. The perfect example of this is when Lucasfilm announced that Rian Johnson would get his own Star Wars trilogy ahead of the premiere of The Last Jedi.
There has been neither hide nor hair of the film since the initial announcement despite Johnson and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy claiming the film is still in development and they are just having scheduling issues. It’s been over half a decade since the initial announcement and that excuse most certainly does not fly anymore.
What do you make of Paramount greenlighting a sequel as well as a TV series before Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem arrives in theaters? Are they counting their chickens before they’ve hatched?