The latest movie and the seventh theatrical film featuring the heroes in a half-shell hits theaters on August 2, 2023 with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
After years of being sheltered from the human world, the four Turtle brothers set out on a quest to be accepted as normal teenagers by the people of New York City through acts of heroism. With the aid of their new friend April O’Neil, the brothers go on a hunt for a mysterious crime syndicate, but trouble arises when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
Mutant Mayhem was directed by Jeff Rowe, co-directed by Kyler Spears, and written by Rowe, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit based on characters co-created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
The film stars Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, and Brady Noon as Raphael. Also starring is Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Rogen as Bebop, John Cena as Rocksteady, Jackie Chan as Splinter, Ice Cube as Superfly, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was animated by Mikros Animation in Montreal and Paris, and Cinesite in Vancouver. Like with his previous outing, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Rowe wanted Mutant Mayhem to look different from what was expected from an animated film. The director’s aim was to make it heavily resemble the concept art. He was inspired by sketches he made in school notebooks as a teenager and how they tend to have a lot of exaggerated features, spikes, and random effects lines, and wanted the film’s animation to reflect a similar feeling. Rowe described the film’s sketch look as its “North Star”, as the comic book-inspired look was for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Music is by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem drops at theaters on August 2, 2023 from Nickelodeon Movies, Point Grey Pictures and Paramount Pictures.
