It’s been known for quite some time now that Michael Bay has been working on bringing the classic ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ back to the big screen in a live action adaptation. But what wasn’t known was what his version of the reboot would entail.

At the 2012 Nickelodeon Upfront event at the Lincoln Center in New York, Bay spoke about the movie that was just given a Christmas Day, 2013 release date:

“When you see this movie, kids are going to believe one day that these turtles do exist, when we’re done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race, and they’re going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely loveable.”

(Insert groan here) Yes, folks, you read correctly! He did say the turtles would be from an alien race (and if you still don’t believe me, we have video proof below!). So not only will the movie reboot the story of the pizza eating sewer-dwelling masked vigilantes, Bay has just announced that he will also alter their origin! How literal are we to take this news is unclear at the moment but if you recall, the TMNT’s traditional backstory was that they were ordinary turtles who were transformed after being exposed to toxic ooze. How this new origin will work to form the TMNT (or should it now be TANT for Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles) is now up to screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec (‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’, ‘Life on Mars’, ‘Alias’, ‘Samarai Girl’).

Bay will not be directing this film only producing it through his company Platinum Dunes. Directing credits will be going to Jonathan Liebesman who directed ‘Wrath of the Titans’, ‘Battle: Los Angeles,’ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.’

While the news of a reboot was a happy moment for fans, this new announcement is deserving of a cringe worthy Razzie award for the movie before it even comes out. Let’s hope Bay isn’t too set on the alien format and keeps the Turtles mutant as they were meant to be!

And like I said, if you still don’t believe he said that about their origin, here’s the video of the announcement:

Source: Stuff We Like