TL;DR : Paramount is making a new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. The producer of the Sonic films, Neal H. Moritz, is in talks to lead it. The studio wants the movie to be fun and family-friendly like Sonic. Because of this, the dark R-rated Last Ronin movie has been put on hold. The 2027 animated Mutant Mayhem sequel is still moving forward.
What Happened
- Paramount Pictures is developing a new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot with producer Neal H. Moritz in negotiations to join.
- Multiple reports say the studio wants to “Sonic-fy” TMNT, aiming for a family-friendly, four-quadrant tone similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog films.
- Paramount fully owns the TMNT brand and wants to rebuild it after past live-action films underperformed.
- No director, writer, cast, or story details have been announced yet.
Impact on Other TMNT Projects
- The R-rated The Last Ronin live-action/CG project has been shelved.
- One insider said the studio “wasn’t keen on having the first non-animated movie in 10 years be a bloody, adult-skewing story.”
- Another insider said Paramount wants to “leave the door open to possibly revisit it down the road.”
- The animated TMNT: Mutant Mayhem sequel remains scheduled for September 17, 2027.
- Paramount also canceled the animated series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- Workers were told, “This is not the vision the owners want.”
- Showrunner Christopher Yost wrote, “the upcoming episodes of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will sadly be the last. Luckily, they’re our best episodes yet.”
Why Paramount Is Rebooting TMNT
- The studio wants a fresh, accessible direction following its merger with Skydance.
- Past live-action TMNT films ended after Out of the Shadows performed poorly.
- The success of the Sonic movies (over $1 billion combined) influenced Paramount’s new strategy.
An insider explained this is why Paramount tapped Neal H. Moritz, the producer of Sonic, to lead the TMNT reboot, “If you want Sonic, you go to the guy who did Sonic.”