Megan Fox is back in the Michael Bay business after agreeing to join the upcoming Platinum Dunes Ninja Turtles as the female lead April O’Neil.
The news first broke on Michael Bay’s blog with a simple one-sentence update, “TMNT: We Are Bringing Megan Fox Back Into The Family.” Trades quickly picked up on it and confirmed Fox’s signing as well as her character, the female/human lead and good friend of the Ninja Turtles.
Megan Fox starred in Michael Bay’s first two Transformers films before some public jabs between the pair led to her being fired from the third film during early pre-production. At the time it seemed as if Fox and Bay would never work again given their animosity toward one another.
According to THR, Fox was wowed by TMNT director Jonathan Liebesman’s storyboards for the film. No additional plot details have surfaced since rumors of a story that had the Turtles originating from outer space had fanboys cursing Bay and his involvement. With O’Neil in the mix, there’s still hope the origin story won’t veer too far from what’s already been established.
For the new TMNT film, Liebesman will be relying on mo-capped actors to portray the Turtles and fill them in with CGI later on, ala Caeser in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It’s a good bet that any other mutant characters in the film such as Splinter will receive the same treatment.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great example of what the new TMNT can be if executed properly; a thoughtful reboot that reinvents the franchise in new and unexpected ways without shunning what came before it. At worst it will fall in line with some other Platinum Dunes failed reboots like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th.
Ninja Turtles is headed to theaters on May 16, 2014.
Source: MichaelBay.com
