Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a 2016 superhero film directed by Dave Green, and written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec. Based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters, it is the sequel to the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. The film stars Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Stephen Amell, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Tyler Perry, Brad Garrett, Gary Anthony Williams, Brian Tee and Sheamus. The plot follows the Turtles as they attempt to stop a conspiracy plot by Shredder and Baxter Stockman to unleash an alien warlord named Krang.
Following the box office success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies officially announced that a sequel was greenlit. Green began negotiations to direct the sequel in December 2014, taking over from Jonathan Liebesman, who directed the first film. Principal photography on the film began in April 2015, in New York City, and wrapped up in August 2015.
Out of the Shadows premiered at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 22, 2016, was released in theaters in the United States on June 3, 2016. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was considered an improvement over the first film. It was a box-office bomb, only grossing $246 million against a $135 million budget, resulting in a planned third film being scrapped in favor of an animated reboot, Mutant Mayhem, released in 2023. Another live-action film is planned to release in 2028.
Plot A year after stopping Shredder, which Vern Fenwick was mutually credited for, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are informed by April O'Neil that scientist Baxter Stockman is working for Shredder and plans to bust him out of prison. As the Shredder is transferred between prisons alongside Bebop and Rocksteady by corrections officer Casey Jones, the Foot Clan attacks their convoy. Despite the Turtles' interference, Shredder escapes when Stockman uses a teleportation device. Shredder is hijacked mid-teleport, winds up in another dimension, and meets the alien warlord Krang, who reveals his plans to invade Earth. He gives Shredder a mutagenic compound in exchange for reassembling the arc capacitor, a device that he sent to Earth long ago which will open a portal to his dimension, a portal through which he will bring to earth his powerful war machine, the Technodrome. Shredder and Stockman already have the first piece and must collect the other two. Casey tells NYPD chief Rebecca Vincent and his superior what happened to Shredder, but is met with disbelief before they effectively suspend him, and decides to go after Shredder on his own.
Shredder recruits Bebop and Rocksteady, and Stockman uses Krang's mutagen to transform them into a humanoid warthog and rhinoceros, respectively. April witnesses their transformation and steals the remaining mutagen vial from the TCRI lab. Pursued by the Foot, she is rescued by Casey, who later meets the Turtles, but the vial is taken into police custody. In the lair, Donatello deduces that the mutagen could be used to turn the Turtles into humans, but Leonardo refuses and orders Donnie to keep it a secret from the others. However, Michelangelo overhears and tells Raphael, which enrages Raph and leads to a fierce argument between him and Leo. Raph then recruits Mikey, April, Casey, and Vern to break into the NYPD headquarters and retrieve the mutagen, but the Foot arrives ahead of them. In the ensuing battle, the turtles' existence is revealed to the police, who start a manhunt for them, and April and Casey are arrested while helping the brothers escape with the mutagen.
After recovering the second component of the machine, Bebop and Rocksteady go to the rainforests of Manaus, for the final component. The turtles follow them and board Bebop and Rocksteady's jet in midair. In the resulting battle, the jet is critically damaged after Rocksteady inadvertently fires a tank-mounted Mark 19 grenade launcher, and crashes into a river, though Bebop and Rocksteady are ultimately able to escape with the component. Shredder and Stockman complete the device and open a portal to Krang's dimension through which the Technodrome begins to emerge; Shredder then betrays Stockman by having his men take him to their headquarters in Tokyo. When entering the Technodrome, Krang likewise betrays Shredder, freezing him and locking him with his collection of other defeated foes.
Unable to reach the Technodrome as the police are searching for them, the Turtles debate over taking the mutagen to become human and fight openly. While Leo agrees, Raph shatters the vial. Upon April's request, Vern recovers the security footage from a hidden TCRI camera that proves Stockman and the Shredder's collaboration, and secures April and Casey's release. April arranges a meeting between the Turtles and Vincent, and convinces her that they are not enemies. With the help of the police, the Turtles are able to jump from the Chrysler Building and confront Krang aboard the still-assembling Technodrome. Krang is defeated when Donnie short circuits his robotic body. April, Casey, and Vern raid the Foot Clan facility, defeat Bebop, Rocksteady and the Shredder's lieutenant Karai and take control of the device. The Turtles are able to hurl the ship's beacon back through the portal, taking Krang and the rest of the Technodrome with it, as April, Casey, and Vern shut the portal down.
Bebop and Rocksteady are back in custody, while Stockman remains at large. The Turtles are honored by Vincent and the NYPD along with April, Casey, and Vern before Vincent offers to introduce the Turtles to the public, but they prefer to keep their existence a secret while still helping as they always have. On top of the Statue of Liberty, the Turtles celebrate their victory over the vanquished Krang.
Cast
Megan Fox as April O'Neil: A reporter for Channel 6 News who had befriended the turtles in the previous film, who now helps them fight the released Shredder and his allies. Stephen Amell as Casey Jones: A corrections officer turned vigilante who wears a hockey-mask and wields a hockey stick as a weapon. He eventually meets and befriends the turtles and April. Pete Ploszek as Leonardo: The leader and oldest of the turtles who wields a pair of katana in battle. Unlike the first film, Ploszek also voices the character, who had previously been voiced by Johnny Knoxville in the first film. Alan Ritchson as Raphael: The strong brother who wields a pair of sai in battle. Jeremy Howard as Donatello: The smart brother known for his scientific and technological expertise who builds equipment and machinery for the turtles and who wields a bo-staff in battle. Noel Fisher as Michelangelo: The youngest brother known for his pranks and jokes and who wields a pair of nunchucks in battle. Brian Tee as The Shredder: The leader of the Foot Clan who now seeks revenge on the turtles and allies with Krang. He was previously portrayed by Tohoru Masamune in the first film. Brad Garrett as Krang:"Brad Garrett is the new voice of Krang in 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows'" Los Angeles Times, Retrieved May 19, 2016 A ruthless extraterrestrial life-form equipped with a robotic prototype body, who seeks to destroy Earth and enslave the universe. Peter D. Badalamenti (motion-capture) and Tony Shalhoub (voice) as Splinter: The adoptive father and sensei of the turtles. His motion-capture was previously performed by Danny Woodburn in the first film. Laura Linney as Police Chief Rebecca Vincent: the chief of NYPD who initially detests but later allies with the turtles in saving New York City. Tyler Perry as Dr. Baxter Stockman: A mad scientist and former worker at Sacks Industries who allies with Shredder in the latter's aims to take over New York City. He was previously portrayed by K. Todd Freeman in the first film. Gary Anthony Williams as Anton "Bebop" Zeck: A criminal partner of Rocksteady who was genetically mutated into an anthropomorphic warthog. Williams additionally portrays the character's pre-mutated form. Stephen "Sheamus" Farrelly as Owen "Rocksteady" Rocksteed: A criminal partner of Bebop who was genetically mutated into an anthropomorphic rhinoceros. Sheamus additionally portrays the character's pre-mutated form. Will Arnett as Vern "The Falcon" Fenwick: April's cameraman and friend who is revealed to have somehow taken credit for the turtles' actions in saving New York City. He assists the turtles in stopping Shredder once again. Brittany Ishibashi as Karai: Shredder's daughter and second in-command. She was previously portrayed by Minae Noji in the first film.
Dean Winters appears as a bartender. Supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio has a cameo appearance. NBA players Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan, Lou Amundson, JJ Redick, Austin Rivers, Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes also made cameos in the film. Series co-creator Kevin Eastman makes a cameo appearance as a pizza delivery man named after himself in the film's opening. Jill Martin also made a cameo appearance in the basketball scene in the film. Judith Hoag, who previously played April O'Neil in the 1990 film, appeared in a cameo as Rita, April's boss, in a deleted scene. Jane Wu plays Jade, a police officer.
Production Development After the 2014 film exceeded box office expectations, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies officially announced a sequel was greenlit, and set to be released in theatres on June 3, 2016, with plans to incorporate the characters Casey Jones and Bebop and Rocksteady. Jonathan Liebesman and Bradley Fuller were also interested in doing a storyline that involved Dimension X and Krang. Dave Green began negotiations to direct the sequel in December 2014, replacing Liebesman. Known briefly as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half Shell, Paramount revealed that the title had officially been changed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Casting Megan Fox and Will Arnett returned as April O'Neil and Vern Fenwick respectively; also confirmed were the Shredder's return, and Bebop and Rocksteady debut in the movie. In an interview, William Fichtner stated that he would be returning as Eric Sacks, but for unknown reasons, he ultimately did not appear in the final film. However, he could have returned for the third installment, considering he (along with the turtle actors, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Alan Ritchson and Pete Ploszek) signed on for three TMNT films at the time. Production was confirmed to start in April 2015, along with the casting of Alessandra Ambrosio, and several members of the Los Angeles Clippers. Stephen Amell was cast as Casey Jones, after test reading alongside several different actors. Amell acknowledged the character bore similarities to his Oliver Queen from Arrow. He stated the characters are "fundamentally different" from one another, but that Casey did resemble Oliver from older versions. Tyler Perry was cast as scientist Baxter Stockman, replacing K. Todd Freeman, who played the role in the 2014 film. Brian Tee joined the cast as the Shredder, replacing Tohoru Masamune from the first film. Laura Linney was cast in an unspecified role. Gary Anthony Williams was cast as Bebop, while WWE wrestler Sheamus was confirmed to play Rocksteady. Minae Noji was replaced with Brittany Ishibashi in the role of Karai. CM Punk revealed that he lost the role of Rocksteady to Sheamus. Fred Armisen was originally chosen to voice Krang in the film, but, in May 2016, shortly before the film's release, Brad Garrett voiced Krang instead due to Armisen having schedule conflicts.TMNT: Out of the Shadows Changes Its Krang Voice Comingsoon.net, Retrieved May 19, 2016 While promoting Elvis & Nixon, Johnny Knoxville revealed that he was not asked to return for the sequel as the voice of Leonardo.
Filming