Bay on 'Ninja Turtles': Paramount marketing changed the name

MANILA, Philippines - Michael Bay just announced on his blog that the working title for the 2013 live action film will be simply "Ninja Turtles".

In a blog post dated March 27, 2012, Bay wrote: "Paramount marketing changed the name. They made the title simple. The characters you all remember are exactly the same, and yes they still act like teenagers. Everything you remember, why you liked the characters, is in the movie. This script is being developed by two very smart writers, with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles. They care VERY MUCH about making this film for the fans. Everyone on this team cares about the fans. Just give them a chance. Jonathan the director, is a major fan of the whole franchise. HE'S NOT GOING TO LET YOU DOWN."

A few days before that, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creator Kevin Eastman praised Bay's vision when he said: "Hey Guys, Sorry to have been away for so long--completely swamped with work--but it is some pretty exciting stuff. I had been invited to check out the TMNT film development by my friend Scott Mednick over the years, and a while back had a full look behind the curtian at what writers Appelbaum and Nemec, director Liebesman, and producer Bay are doing--and trust me--it IS AWESOME. I'm officially on board, and will share more as I'm allowed... thanks all!"

By merely announcing some weeks ago that the heroes in a half-shell will be aliens in "Ninja Turtles", Bay received a lot of backlash from the fan community and it's certainly interesting how they will react now that half of the mutated foursome's name has been splintered.