In a surprising development, Paramount Pictures is apparently shifting its intended franchise-launching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from its original June 6, 2014 release date to August 8 of the same year!
The development, as reported on Deadline, is intriguing because Paramount sat in a fairly confident position in June to deliver near back-to-back blockbuster domination with TMNT opening the month, and Transformers 4 closing it on June 25. Indeed, that film is also a sort of soft franchise reboot, as while Michael Bay is back in the director’s chair, Shia LaBeouf is out and Mark Wahlberg is in.
Some have speculated that both kid-friendly franchises’ merchandizing components were beginning to bump into each other with a mere 19 days separating the releases. Thus, by spreading them out across summer 2014, the toy marketing will not overlap. However, there has yet to be an official reason.
Produced by Bay, this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot is being directed by Jonathan Liebesman who directed, among other pictures, Wrath of the Titans and Battle: Los Angeles. He also worked previously with Bay and Platinum Dunes on Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. The picture is set to star Megan Fox as April O'Neil, Will Arnett as Vernon and William Fichtner as the Shredder.
With Ninja Turtles moving to August 8, it will be in direct competition with Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy, a blockbuster gamble being played on August 1. Perhaps though, Paramount is expecting Universal and Focus Features’ Fifty Shades of Grey to come into play that weekend, as August’s line-up continues to heat up.