“Earth to Echo” director Dave Green is in early talks to direct “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2” for Paramount, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes, multiple individuals familiar with the project have told TheWrap.
Paramount had no comment.
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, the first film left the door open for Megan Fox and Will Arnett to return alongside our reptilian heroes in a half shell — Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Raphael (Alan Ritchson), Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) and Donatello (Jeremy Howard).
With a 22% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics may have dismissed “TMNT,” but the movie was a big hit with kids, grossing $477 million worldwide. The film reignited the “Turtles” franchise, which offers no shortage of lucrative merchandising opportunities.
Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec are returning to write and executive produce the sequel, which is slated to hit theaters on June 3, 2016 in order to keep the momentum of the franchise going.
Michael Bay will produce with his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form as well as Scott Mednick and Galen Walker.
“Earth to Echo” was made for approximately $13 million and went on to gross $39 million at the domestic box office, effectively tripling its production budget in the U.S. alone. and proving that Green’s work can appeal to kids.
Green, who is also slated to direct the Dwayne Johnson movie “Lore” for Warner Bros., is represented by WME, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and attorney Matthew Wallerstein.