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SYFY WIRE Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

WIRE Buzz: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles writer on sequel; Horror Demigod casts Rachel Nichols; The Rig

By Jacob Oller
Rachel Nichols getty

The 30-year anniversary of the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie may be inspiring those behind it to talk about continuing its legacy. Screenwriter Bobby Herbeck, who wrote the film with Todd W. Langen, recently did press for the film's anniversary run and mentioned that the fandom's interest was keeping hope alive for more TMNT live-action movies.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Herbeck responded to whether he was interested in another sequel for the franchise, to follow Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. "Yes. The answer is yes,” Herbeck said. “We’re trying to make that happen. We want to do a reboot. We got our fans come to us on Instagram, they’re, ‘Why don’t you guys do a reboot of the first movie?’ We’d love to do it.”

Opposed to an actual reboot, which already kind of happened with those Michael Bay TMNT movies, this looks like Herbeck is talking about getting the original gang back together.

“The truth is, this property, it’s established now after 30 years as a part of our modern pop culture, it’s not going away,” Herbeck said. “It’s only going to continue to grow. I do wish that we could go back. I mean, we’ve talked to [director] Steve Barron about this, and Brian Henson, and if there were an opportunity, if one of the studios saw fit, I think we could go back and reboot it like it was. … Imagine if Brian Henson had access to the technology he does today to make these costumes and all that. I think it would be amazing. A reboot like that I think would really get people’s juices flowing.”

This may be wishful thinking on the part of Herbeck and team, seeing as a CG film is already in the works from writer Brendan O’Brian and director Jeff Rowe. But it's always good to keep those doors open in case Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael need an extra hand to split a 'za with in the future.


Next, upcoming horror film Demigod has found a lead actor to travel to its spooky cabin in the woods.

Deadline reports that Continuum's Rachel Nichols will lead writer/director Miles Doleac's film as Robin, a woman who goes deep into the Black Forest to visit her late grandfather's cabin. Along with her husband (Yohance Myles), Robin will find some suitably terrible things upon her arrival -- not least of which is an ancient hunting ritual that has as much to do with her own family history as any wooded horror.

“I needed an actor who could play power, pathos, and vulnerability in equal measure. I’ve admired Rachel’s work for many years and I knew she could brilliantly capture this character’s complexities,” Doleac, who co-wrote the film with Michael Donovan Horn, said. “There’s a lot of pent-up creative energy. It’s exciting and terrifying to be getting back to work on a film. I think, from a creative perspective, that’s a pretty good place to be.”

Demigod, which also stars Jeremy London, Sherri Eakin, Lindsay Anne Williams, Alli Hart, and Doleac, looks to begin production in Mississippi this December.


Finally, another spooky story has taken a step toward the screen, this time set on a foggy oil rig. The traditional horror locations are all coming out to play.

According to DeadlineThe Rig, a six-part supernatural show from director John Strickland and writer David Macpherson, has gotten the green light from Amazon. Set off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea, the oil rig mystery (where the crew is stuck thanks to an oppressive fog that prevents them from returning to the mainland) has not yet begun casting its doomed characters. Other writers for the series include Meg Salter and Matthew Jacobs Morgan.

The Rig is a brilliant story, expertly told, in the most dramatic of settings,” said Georgia Brown, director of European Amazon Originals for Prime Video. “It asks searching questions about nature and the environment, about what it takes to survive and to be human, which feels very pertinent to the world we are living in now."

The Rig looks to begin shooting in Scotland next year.