Turtles On a Half Shell, Turtle Power!

Can I say I love "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" My constant companions through my youth led me into comics, video games and into film. Oh how I watched those movies over and over.

Then "TMNT" came out and I got pissed. That movie was nowhere as good as the original live-action trilogy. And I want more Ninja Turtle movies. I really love them that much. I even had the video of them when they did the flipping concert tour back in 1990.

Now they are coming back.
According to Variety, "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are making their way back to the bigscreen.

The Mirage Group, which owns the property, is moving forward with a live-action film focusing on the origins of the iconic crime fighters. Project, targeted for release in 2011, would mark the fifth bigscreen outing for the sewer-dwelling heroes Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael as well as their master Splinter.

News coincides with the Turtles' 25th anniversary celebration, which kicks off Thursday in New York as the first 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' film unspools at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Legendary Pictures former chief marketing officer Scott Mednick is producing the new pic alongside Galen Walker, who produced the 2007 computer-animated "TMNT" pic, the most recent installment in the franchise. Peter Laird, Gary Richardson, Frederick Fierst, Eric Crown and Napoleon Smith III are exec producing the film, which is based on the characters created by Laird and Kevin Eastman.

The characters first appeared in a May 1984 comicbook before spawning a lucrative line of toys, cartoons and three films released in the early 1990s. In 2003, the Turtles were reintroduced to a new generation via a TV series, the 'TMNT' film and a revamped merchandising program.

'The original dozen comics created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman are some of the best source material one could hope for,' said Mednick, whose exec producing credits include the upcoming 'Where the Wild Things Are.' Laird, who bought out Eastman's share of the property several years ago, said the film will remain true to the spirit of the original comicbooks. He added that the pic may employ face replacement technology, which would allow the turtles to be much more expressive."

One problem. An origins story? The first film wasn't even an origins story. A flashback that lasted less than five minutes was all that was needed to show that they were turtles that were mutated and learned karate. Does this mean there will be an entire hour dedicated to this before we get to Ninja Turtle action?

Definitely more news to come! Catch ya' later!
This song is the sh*t!