Corona | Coming Attractions

Viacom has bought the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a cool $60 million dollars. What that means for us in the mid-term future is that Nickelodeon, a Viacom-owned property, will broadcast a new CG TMNT series in 2012, the same year that the new live-action movie will come out from Paramount Pictures, another Viacom division. Nickelodeon also gets to control the toy rights to the characters and will make new plastic stuff through its relationship with Playmates.

It's not spelled out clearly in Variety's article about the news but what I believe to be the case is that the Mirage Group, the company created to house the rights for the pizza loving heroes in a half-shell, has sold a lease for the international and domestic rights to Viacom. I base my reasoning on the gut feeling that the TMNT property is likely worth more than $60 million dollars outright, and that Kevin Eastman, one of the two creators of the characters and the most vocal over the past couple of decades, hasn't commened on any complete sale of his legendary property. 

There's already an animated TMNT show airing on The CW Network. It will continue to air new episodes but will likely come to an end in '12 as the new series begins on Nick.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences," said Cyma Zarghami, the president of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids."