Ninja Turtles Script Possibly Leaked, Paramount Sends Cease and Desist
Today, io9 reported that a website called TMNT, not TANT had posted the original draft for Bay’s remake of the Ninja Turtles. Of course, the blogger ripped (dare I say shredded?) the script to slag and let everyone have a chance to read it themselves and make their own judgments. It wasn’t too long before a cease and desist letter came from lawyers, on behalf of Paramount, to remove the script from the website. However, the damage was done. If the script isn’t out there, which I’m certain it is because it’s the INTERNET, then the details it contained certainly are.
Okay, forget the Alien Ninja Turtles part. That was the least objectionable part of this headache.
The condensed bullet points are courtesy of screenrant:
- The script includes a character named Colonel Schrader, the head of a secret military operation run by an army nicknamed “The Foot†(get it?).
- Casey Jones and April O’Neil are now dating and in high-school. The two have reached a crossroads, as Casey is an unambitious slacker, while April is becoming an intern for CBS. Casey is also described as being the protagonist of the film – not the turtles.
- The Turtles crack a variety of “updated†pop-culture jokes, making references to Kermit the Frog, cellphones, and the Kung Fu Panda movies (among other things).
- Casey and the Turtles eventually travel to Dimension X, where the four reptilian warriors discover they are members of a Turtle-like extraterrestrial race (and not mutants, as they previously believed.)
One of the points I read on another site points out that Casey is working as a security guard at a furniture store and an amateur hockey player. He also, thanks to his fondness for Reservoir Dogs, gets the idea to give the Turtles color coded bandanas.
So many sites I’ve read today pretty much give the whole idea the bashing it deserves. If this was the script that Paramount killed production on, then I am proud to know that they spotted a really BAD idea. I think my favorite bad idea is when the Turtles and Casey get to Dimension X and discover that the quartets parents sent them away, because they would inevitably be killed by yet a mysterious villain they have yet to meet. It pronounces them as basically the chosen ones meant to bring about peace.
Though I’m all too happy to believe that this is indeed the real deal, especially since Paramount killed the script, Screen Rant did go out of their way to put in some doubts. By their stand point, the script follow too closely to Transformers. Almost copying it, which isn’t hard to believe in the respect that Bay has made money hand over fist with those train wreck films. The next is that the screenwriters have done far better material such as Mission:Impossible – Ghost Protocol, among other well respected projects. All I can say is that money talks, Michael Bay forks out tons for his spectacles, and if he wants something to look a certain way he’s right there over their shoulders.
This has even managed to get to the eyes of Peter Laird (in comments on his blog) who said:
Someone else alerted me to the existence of this script, and I just a few minutes ago finished reading it. If it is, in fact, the actual draft that was rejected and caused the production of the next TMNT movie to be pushed back to 2014 because the script was unsatisfactory, then I think 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. It could definitely be taken as a good sign if that is the case. It reminds me of one of the reasons I am glad to not own the property anymore… because I don’t have to tear what little hair I have left out while trying to fix junk like this.
I leave it up to you to determine if you believe this script to be true. Honestly, I don’t know if this is real or not.  At this juncture, I don’t think it matters.  The movie was given a release day of May 2014 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Turtles. The problem still exists that the runners of this project don’t know the first thing about properties like this. It’s an obvious attempt to milk the franchise, whatever the case. The first attempt was obviously shutdown by Paramount, whether the leaked script be the real deal or not. This hasn’t stopped them from moving forward. My hope is Paramount keeps vigilant enough to stop any further encounters. In the mean time, we will all have to wait and see how this unfolds.  I put my money on another complete train wreck.
