Hot on the heels of our first look at Megan Fox (THIS IS 40) in action as Channel 6 news reporter April O’Neil, news broke of actor William Fichtner (ELYSIUM, THE LONE RANGER) being cast in a lead role for Platinum Dunes’ TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES remake! Not many details are known at this time, but according to Deadline.com, Fichtner’s role is apparently “a lead with iconic stature in the TURTLES mythology.”
Given Mr. Fichtner’s affinity to sometimes portray seedier individuals, my guess is TURTLES may have found one of its villains. Could this guy be our Shredder? Let the speculation begin!
But we may not have to wait long to find out since more and more photos from the set keep popping up! This time, we are treated to our first look at the Green Teen Machines themselves in action…kinda. Images of three of the four Turtle actors in full motion-capture gear have surfaced. From left to right we have Jeremy Howard (ACCEPTED), Noel Fisher (BATTLE: LOS ANGELES) and Pete Ploszek (PARKS & RECREATION) as Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo respectively. Missing from the scene is Alan Ritchson (THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE) as Raphael.
First of all, of course the motion-capture outfits look silly, but they’re only placeholders for epic CGI TMNT goodness! If anything, at least the production crew is taking into account every aspect of the characters’ physicality. I wonder how heavy those mo-cap shells are. Also, it’s kind of funny how each Turtle has a color-coded armband to coincide with their bandana colors (most likely needed to tell them apart while adding the final effects in post-production). And it looks as though the Boys in Green have run into some trouble and been shackled and captured by some very nefarious-looking characters. Who are these guys? The Foot Clan? Alien soldiers? Government agents? And where’s Raphael? Is he coming to save the day?
All of these questions will be answered when Producer Michael Bay (PAIN & GAIN) and Director Jonathan Liebesman (WRATH OF THE TITANS) bring TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES to theaters on June 6, 2014!
