Weird looking, isn't it?

Michael Bay and his partners from Platinum Dunes have been hired by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon to produce the newest version of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, a live-action film that will continue the series originally created by New Line in 1990. Neil Miller of the blog Film School Rejects points out that recent trends in the film industry, with KICK-ASS and MACGRUBER nearly failing at the box office, should indicate to Paramount that their demographic can't be too specific. "Do they want a TMNT film that will appeal to children and teens, similar to the original 1990 film?" Miller asks. "Or are they looking for something violent and gritty that will target a nostalgic 18-35 male demographic?" Until more details are revealed, Miller's brow will "remain furrowed" (more).

Ang Lee is trying to accumulate enough funding for his latest project, an adaptation of the book The Life Of Pi, which would be shot partially on water. The book focuses on a boy stranded on a ship 227 days after a shipwreck, with a tiger, a hyena and a zebra onboard. Lee needs $70 million to complete the film, which is more than Fox is willing to pay at this time despite his seemingly modest proposal. The explanation? "Water shoots are notorious for costing far more than initially allocated," Russ Fischer from Slash Film speculates (more).

The studio in 2008 after the fire.

New York is back -- in Los Angeles! Yesterday, Universal Studios reopened its backlot of fake New York Streets, which were destroyed in June 2008 in an accidental fire. The rebuilding project cost Universal $200 million, but will now allow filmmakers to create scenes based in New York without ever leaving Hollywood. Films like BACK TO THE FUTURE and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD were shot in the same backlot before the 2008 fire, which also destroyed portions of the "King Kong" attraction in Universal's theme park. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger attended the opening celebration. "For me this is kind of a homecoming," he said. "I have all kinds of really great, great memories of this studio" (more).