TMNT Week moves on and for this part of the week, we go back to Episode 8 of the Capes and Tights Podcast when Justin Soderberg and Adam Morrisette discuss the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie trilogy.
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird introduced the world to the turtles comics back in 1984 and only a few short years later they were made into live-action feature films. Eastman and Laird thought up their creation right here in New England.
The first TMNT film was released on March 30, 1990. It was written by Todd W. Langen and Bobby Herbeck, directed by Steve Barron. The movie was made for $13.5 million and draw in over $200 million in the box office, becoming the highest-grossing independent film up to that time (surpassed by The Blair Witch Project in 1999).
Due to the success of the first turtles film, a second film entitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was released a year later on March 22, 1991. Once again the film was written by Todd W. Langen, but the second film was directed by Michael Pressman. TMNT II had a higher budget at $25 million, but was less of a success at the box office ($78.6 million).
Although the sequel to the original film was not as successful financially, it made enough cash for the studios to make the series a trilogy. On March 19, 1993 the final movie in the series was released, simply named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. The movie was written and directed by Stuart Gillard. TMNT III had a $21 million budget and brought in $54.4 million, the smallest of the three films.
The trilogy would be the last time we would see the turtles on the big screen until the 2007 CGI film, TMNT, was released.
Adam and Justin discuss what they liked, disliked and hope for the future of TMNT movies on this episode of the podcast.
