Paramount Pictures has tapped Saturday Night Live‘s Colin Jost to write a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with his brother Casey Jost.
Wow. So much to unpack from that one statement. WHY is Paramount even making another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? The last batch was co-produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. The first, released in 2014, just seven years ago, was a success, earning $493.3 million on a budget of approximately $125-150 million. However, that movie was a success based strictly on nostalgia for the property on the part of adults that had grown up with the franchise as a kid. Both audiences and critics agreed it was a terrible flick.
But when a movie makes that much money, no matter how bad it is, it gets a sequel. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows opened in 2016 and flopped, ultimately making only $245.6 million on a budget of $135 million. That movie also wasn’t well-liked, but it deserves props for bringing in more characters from the classic comics, cartoons, and toy lines including Baxter Stockman, Casey Jones, Bebop, Rocksteady, and Krang.
But that movie just came out five years ago… and FLOPPED! Why are they trying to make a reboot so soon? Even among children, the Turtles don’t seem all that popular right now. The last cartoon version, Nickelodeon’s Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles only lasted for two seasons and ended last year.
As for Colin Jost, “Weekend Update” IS the best part of SNL, so there’s that. But there’s a big difference between writing and delivering jokes based on current headlines and writing a full-length movie. But, Jost was also head writer of all of SNL for years and remains as a writer, although not in the lead, so he has written more than just the short zingers on “Weekend Update.” He is also writing another movie, Worst Man, in which he will also star, and he penned a memoir, A Very Punchable Face, which was published last year.
Casey Jost was a writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and has served as a producer of the various Impractical Jokers shows.
Clearly, this new take on TMNT will distinguish itself from the Bay movies by being funny. But as for what else to expect, we’re just going to have to wait to see what the Jost brothers have to say.
Are you intrigued by a new (possibly) comedic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film?
