Ubisoft picks up Turtles movie tie-in license

    hahaha

    New videogames to appear alongside film in 2007

    Quote

    Following the announcement that Warner Bros is to produce a new movie based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license, Ubisoft has picked up the rights to develop and publish a videogame tie-in.

    The games are slated for a release in early 2007 alongside the feature length CG film, which is being produced by Imagi Animation Studios. According to a statement announcing the licensing deal, "The PG-rated movie will derive its tone from the original comic-book series and will be grittier than the previous live action pictures."

    The Turtles license was previously owned by Konami, with the most memorable game being the 1989 side-scrolling arcade title. Game sales have dwindled in recent years but the Turtles remain popular, and the TV show, produced by 4Kids Entertainment, is still shown in 90 territories worldwide.

    "Ubisoft is thrilled to be bringing the Turtles back in an exciting new adventure that will attract both the first generation of enthusiasts all the way through to the current and future generations of fans," said Christian Salomon, director of licensing at Ubisoft.

    4Kids CEO Alfred R. Kahn added: "We are confident Ubisoft's commitment to quality, strong international distribution and presence in the worldwide video game market will complement the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie experience and help generate added excitement for the Turtles brand."

    Source: http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=14020

    i used to love that old side scroller turtles game. when i was really young i used to love the TMNT action figures...got my cousin into them. just totally cool.

    speaking of gaming movie tie ins etc....any idea when we'll see a Splinter Cell movie? I can't picture it without the voice of michael ironside, so I don't know if it work cause he's roughly 55 or 56 years old. I suppose he could pull of the 40s something grizzled spie out of retirement trick, which is sort of the character he plays in the games and the Splinter Cell books (one of which I read last year and liked pretty well).

    Back to TMNT...

    I have no doubt Ubi will do the best it can from the material. I didn't play King Kong but I have heard that does some things pretty well.

    [soap box / ramble]

    Couple of lessons I've learned from The Incredibles and Nemo and working with Pixar: get the approval process on content worked out and tested way before you go into production. I'm guessing with King Kong Peter Jackson was more involved with the creative process than most directors were with games based on their movies, as he/his team was with the LotR series with EA. On the Pixar based games, the areas of production where licensor approval processs was planned out in advance went MUCH smoother and used less time than other parts. That helped saved a lot of time and rework, which in the end helped control the budget, which in the end made the game mores more profitable (to a degree at least) ....

    Ok just Rambling, but my point is this: is there a strong director/producer on the Fillm side of this deal that is commited to working with UBI to ensure a good video game? It helps tremendously.

    [soap box / ramble]

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