Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

Here's a story that slipped by me yesterday. Word went out in the Hollywood Reporter that Viacom's Nickelodeon spent 60 million clams on four turtles. More specifically Nick bought the quarter-century-old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. It sounds like the immediate plans are to kick start a CG-animated TV series (presumably to air on Nickelodeon) and, more interestingly, a live-action/CG feature film, both to premiere in 2012. No director has been named yet for the feature, but apparently at Comic-Con in July the producers announced that John Fusco (writer of the successful THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM) is getting first crack at the screenplay. To my knowledge, this is the first time Nickelodeon has bought an existing franchise outright.

The question remains, does the franchise still have some steam left in it? I wasn't real big on the original TMNT cartoons, but I remember liking the movies, the first one in particular. And the 2007 animated film wasn't bad either. Is a relaunch what this universe needs? Of course, if you had asked me five years ago if anyone would pay to see a mixed live-action/CG TRANSFORMERS movie (also from Paramount), I would have laughed in your face.

To read the entire Hollywood Reporter article, click here.

So what do you think? Do Raphael, Michaelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo still have some swing left in their swords? Can Splinter still get his rat tail up? Your thoughts, ladies and gents?

-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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