What the Shell?! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Will Be Aliens!; Michael Bay Tells Fans to Chill

UPDATE:

This is what Michael Bay wrote on his messageboard in response to fan reactions regarding this bit of news:

"Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world."

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Back in February, we found out that Battle: Los Angeles director Jonathan Liebesman will be helming the live-action reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie that's scheduled for release in December 25, 2013.

Today, a major piece of the movie's plot point is revealed by Michael Bay in a talk he gave at an ads sales event in New York last week.

Forget all that bit about the Turtles becoming who they are by coming in contact with some slimy green ooze down in the sewers. In this reboot, the Turtles are pizza-loving aliens from another planet.

Here's the transcription of what Michael Bay said in the video embedded below.

"When you see this movie, kids are going to believe that one day these turtles actually do exist when we're done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race and they are going to be tough, edgy, and completely loveable."

After four movies without really expanding the fan base, I can understand them wanting to blow everything up and start over with a fresh origin story.

The appeal of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics have always been its humor, but that humor had a difficult time finding its way to the big screen. But with the 2007 animation, and now this reboot, it seems like they're moving away from the humor and focusing more on the action.

Maybe the green ooze will still play a role. They have to explain how Master Splinter turned into a cane-wielding rat, afterall.

Michael Bay is producing the movie along with Andrew Form and Brad Fuller. Jonathan Liebesman is directing the movie from a script by André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum. Paramount will distribute.

If you want to hear it straight from Bay, here's the video: