Paramount shuts down work on 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie

Paramount Pictures has temporarily shut down production on Michael Bay’s Ninja Turtles due to concerns over the script.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the entire pre-production staff was temporarily laid off and told that the stoppage was “indefinite.” Reports indicate that the delay will last 10 weeks.

Complex reports that, with Paramount recently having to push back
G.I. Joe: Retaliation and World War Z while the films were in post production, the studio wanted to avoid similar problems with Ninja Turtles and wanted to ensure a strong script before shooting began.

The film, which was scheduled for release Christmas of 2013, is now expected in May, 2014.

The movie is set to be produced by Bay and directed by Jonathan Liebesman, who directed Wrath of the Titans.

Bay drew criticism in March when he announced that the turtles would be aliens in the film, instead of the mutants that their name indicates.

Bay’s film, based on the highly popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles media franchise that originated as a comic book series, is a reboot of a trilogy of live-action films from the early '90s. The original trilogy, although poorly reviewed, did very well at the box office.