Nick, Paramount Shell Out for ‘Ninja Turtles’ Movie, CG Series

Viacom units pay $60 million for rights to the hit 1980s kids franchise.

 Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures paid $60 million for rights to make a feature film and new TV series based on the "Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles," the company announced Wednesday.

The Paramount movie and Nickelodeon CG-animated television series are planned for 2012.

Nickelodeon — part of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. — said it had acquired the global rights to the "Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles" from The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment. 

The television, film and video game franchise, based on a Japanese property, was a huge hit in the 1980s.

The companies will continue to work with the original and long-standing toy partner, Playmates Toys, which has been the creative force behind the successful TMNT master toy program over the past two decades, the company said.
"’Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles’ shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences,” said Cyma Zarghami, president, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. “We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively reintroduce it to a new generation of kids.”

 

Comments