Nickelodeon acquires Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, created in the 1980s by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, have been bought by Nickelodeon for approximately $60 million. Nickelodeon plans to develop a new CG animated series with the Turtles, and a new feature film is in the works with Paramount.
Nickelodeon is part of MTV Networks, which is a division of Viacom Inc. The rights to the Turtles had been owned by The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc.
Nick now owns global intellectual property rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While the release doesn’t specifically indicate comics, global intellectual property rights would tend to include comic books.
The new animated series is expected to debut in 2012, as is the new motion picture. Merchandising rights go along with this deal, and Nickelodeon announced it planned to continue to work with longtime Turtles license-holder Playmates Toys.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, in a news release. “We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids.”
Paramount noted the Turtles could provide the studio a superhero franchise.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon,” said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.
Is this insurance for Paramount to grab some of the superhero audience after its deal with Marvel expires? Maybe. If so, $60 million could be seen as a bargain in a few years.
UPDATE: Peter Laird explains on his blog that while he hadn’t been actively seeking a buyer for the Turtles, this opportunity came along, and “the stars lined up.”
“I know that many fans are concerned with how the TMNT will be treated now that they have a new owner,” Laird writes. “I am also concerned, but I have faith that the new owner will treat the property with due respect and make the most of it. And the simple fact is — I didn’t have it in me any more, and the property DESERVED a new owner. Now it has one, with powerful roots in the entertainment business. I am actually quite excited to see where they take TMNT.”
- Matt Price
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Nick did Avatar, and that turned out to be a fantastically done kids show. I’d put more stock in then than 4-Kids.