'Everything that is near and dear to fans will still be there,' director Jonathan Liebesman tells MTV News after producer catches flak for reboot.

Who could have predicted that a Michael Bay-produced re-imagining of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" would cause such a stir? While fans were largely onboard for a reboot, the tide turned when Bay recently announced that he would give our half-shell heroes an alien origin story.

Fan reaction to the news has been negative, to say the least. So much so that Bay has already twice taken to his Shoot for the Edit message board to tell fans that the reboot will not disappoint. On Tuesday (March 27), Bay hit the boards again, promising that the new movie will include "everything you remember" from the original; he also explained why the film's name is "Ninja Turtles," not "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"Paramount marketing changed the name. They made the title simple," he wrote.

"The characters you all remember are exactly the same, and yes they still act like teenagers," he added. "Everything you remember, why you liked the characters, is in the movie. This script is being developed by two very smart writers, with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles. They care VERY MUCH about making this film for the fans. Everyone on this team cares about the fans. Just give them a chance. Jonathan [Liebesman], the director, is a major fan of the whole franchise. HE'S NOT GOING TO LET YOU DOWN."

Speaking of Liebesman, MTV News caught up with the director as he promoted his latest, "Wrath of the Titans," and he seemed to share Bay's sentiment, saying the new version will preserve "the essence" of the original.

"What's important to me are the characters that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created, the essence is preserved, and we're true to that," Liebesman said. "And everything that is near and dear to fans will still be there, every new thing we think of is tied into the mythology. We're not going to betray anything that has been there before — I'm a fan myself."

"Ninja Turtles" is due in theaters Christmas 2013.

Check out everything we've got on "Ninja Turtles."

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