The Ninja Turtles will be partying a little earlier than expected. Paramount has moved up the release date for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2 to August 13, 2027. It was previously slated for Sept. 17, 2027.
The film is a sequel to 2023’s Mutant Mayhem, which had humor and stylish animation that helped it gross $181.9 million globally. “Adopting a decidedly younger spin toward its teenage heroes, the hugely entertaining and funny film seems destined to reinvigorate the franchise and attract plenty of nostalgic adults as well as young fans,” read The Hollywood Reporter‘s review of the first installment.
Jeff Rowe returns to direct the sequel, with Kyler Spears and Yashar Kassai co-directing. Seth Rogen produces alongside Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Josh Fagen and Ramsay McBean. It is unknown which characters will appear in the sequel, but Rowe did discuss the reasoning behind avoiding key villain Shredder in the first installment.
“Shredder is a big character when he’s on screen. He demands a lot of presence, and he takes up so much space in the story,” he told THR in 2023. “So it was too much space in a movie where we’re also trying to reintroduce a new generation of Turtles and get audiences on board with this iteration.” And having them meet not the ultimate villain, but a villain that’s more on their level, it really made a lot of story pieces come together. It helped us make the film that we ended up making.”
The move comes as the new, David Ellison-led Paramount plans to amp up its use of the classic property, which began life as an underground comic book in 1984 by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. The studio is developing a live-action/CGI hybrid in the style of its Sonic the Hedgehog movies, and is expecting it for 2028.
In addition to the big screen offerings, the company is launching the young audience show Teeny Mutant Ninja Turtles, and is even breaking into themed restaurants, with a pizza parlor expected to open in several locations, including Santa Monica.
