His latest, Pain & Gain, in theaters now, Michael Bay spoke today with Moviefone, updating on two highly anticipated upcoming franchise entries, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers 4.
“There was that quote saying that were making [the Ninja Turtles as] aliens. We’re not,” Bay clarifies. “Its the ooze! Its from the original source material. These are from the original writers, and I never went out to correct myself in the press. I do listen to the fans and I do want this to be authentic. I think theyre going to be really happy with this movie. When I see the digital stuff, the turtles look great.”
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, the film features a screenplay by Josh Appelbaum, Andrew Nemec, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway and John Fusco, and is based on the characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.
The film stars Megan Fox in the role of April O’Neil, Alan Ritchson as Raphael, Jeremy Howard as Donatello, Pete Ploszek as Leonardo, Noel Fisher as Michelangelo, Will Arnett in an unspecified role, and Danny Woodburn as Master Splinter.
Meanwhile, Bay is gearing up to take the directing reins on Transformers 4, starring Mark Wahlberg, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz and Stanley Tucci.
“You know there are a couple of historians of Transformers,” Bay continues. “I would do my designs of the robots and theyre like, ‘What if you just add a little bit more ears to Optimus?’ But theyre really hands off. Weve redesigned them in ‘Transformers 4,’ and theres some really cool s-t in it. Im literally redesigning every character, top to bottom. Theres a reason why theyre redesigned, but its also to keep it new and fresh to me. I think the fans will appreciate some of this new stuff we have in the movie and some of the new characters.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is targeting a June 6, 2014 release while Transformers 4 is slated to arrive later that month on June 27.
(Photo Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN.com)
