Nickelodeon paid $60-million to own all the licensing for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, making them the official owner of the revitalized franchise. Current plans call for CG-animated series that will debut in 2012, as well a movie distributed by Paramount in 2012.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Masks

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25th Anniversary Action Figure Michelangelo

Coveroo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Logo 1 on a brand new iPod Touch 8GB

Fruit Shapes Fruit Snacks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 10-Count Pouches (Pack of 10)

PR Speak:

"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, President, 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." 

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate
global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly
the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon," said Adam
Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

"Mirage has been the proud keeper of the Turtles' brand since 1984, and in
2009 we celebrated their 25th anniversary with our legions of fans," said Gary
Richardson, CEO, Mirage Studios. "Nickelodeon is a powerhouse global brand,
and we are confident that the company will be a wonderful steward for
Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello and all the other TMNT characters
and take them in all kinds of exciting and new creative directions."

"We enjoyed our eight-year partnership with Mirage during which 4Kids and
Mirage re-launched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise for a new
generation of kids around the world," said Alfred Kahn, Chairman and CEO of
4Kids Entertainment, Inc.  "We will also work with Mirage and Viacom so that
our Turtles' licensees can be assured of a seamless transition."

In 1941, Paramount Pictures acquired the theatrical rights to Superman cartoons but faced an uphill battle when considering ways to introduce the character to audiences. At that time in history, few people knew who Superman was and perceptions of cartoons were it was nothing more than comedic entertainment. Then, the critics weighed in and they were just as confused as everyone else.

This interesting time in the evolution of Superman is well-documented at GreenBriarPictureShows, which offers up a ton of promotional materials that were created by Paramount to spread the word about Superman. An excellent read about a little understood moment in history.

Time Magazine weighed in at the time, saying:

Artistically, Superman shorts are the movie cartoon at its worst. Superman looks and acts like a wooden puppet. So do all his playmates. There is little that his creators—the old Fleischer Studios (now Famous Studios, Inc.) at Miami, Fla.—can do to improve their hero—even King Disney can’t animate human beings satisfactorily. There is never any suspense, since Superman always wins, no matter what happens. But his idolators (of all ages) seem satisfied to see him flex his muscles.

Source: GreenBriarPictureShows

Apparently Hollywood isn’t done turning Frank Herbert’s classic science-fiction book Dune into a vat of cinematic crap.  First we had David Lynch butcher the source material, complete with rubber walls standing in place of giant worms and fronted by the talentless Kyle MacLachlan. Then the SciFi Channel turned the masterpiece into some kind of bizarre “environmental” movie that consistently missed the mark. Now comes word from Variety that Peter Berg is slated to direct a new theatrical version for Paramount.
Peter Berg? The director of Friday Night Lights? Very Bad Things? The Kingdom? The same. Excuse me if I’m not bubbling over with anticipation.
According to producers, one of which is Kevin Misher, perhaps best known for the hideous The Interpreter with Nicole Kidman, the plan is to be faithful to Herbert’s Dune. That’s what they always say at the outset in order to quell the dissenting voices of a loud fan-base.
Paramount is insisting the movie will be a “tentpole” film, which is Hollywood speak for “it’s going to get a decent budget, but probably suck anyway.”
Now I hear what you’re saying: people thought the same thing about Peter Jackson when he was attached to Lord of the Rings. People freaked out, as Jackson didn’t have a filmography that easily lent itself to Tolkien’s epic. Well, Peter shut everyone up by digging deep and delivering the goods. Can Berg do the same? Maybe. Doubtful….but maybe.