Having established his credentials in Hollywood, Hong Kong film-maker John Woo is planning a return - of sorts - to his martial-arts roots. The revered action director is planning to create a computer-animated feature based on the adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
A quartet of crime-fighting monsters named after Renaissance painters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became icons for the American pre-teen market in the late 80s and early 90s. At their peak they spawned a comic book, a rap record, a TV show and three live-action feature films (released, respectively, in 1990, 1991 and 1993). "I've always loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," says Woo. "It's one of the greatest action-adventure properties ever." Turtles co-creator Peter Laird, meanwhile, stresses that the Woo project will return the Turtles to "their darker, edgier comic-book roots."
A major director in his native Hong Kong, Woo arrived in America at around the same time that the Turtles were beginning to fall out of fashion, filming the hit pictures Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2. He has recently completed work on the action-adventure Windtalkers, starring Nicolas Cage. His Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project is tentatively scheduled for release at Christmas 2002.
