You'd think a movie that just released it's first trailer and actual footage to critical responses from fans would want to lay off the publicity for a while, yet it seems that won't be the case for Jonathan Liebesman's upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It seems Leibesman and producer Michael Bay haven't yet finished stirring up as much controversial casting as the possibly can, because it's recently been announced that there's been a last minute swap for the actors voicing Master Splinter and Leonardo. Thankfully, there's a pretty cool set of teaser posters for each turtle that sort of eases all the frustration over the casting news, but that isn't to say it's enough.
Deadline brought in the reports for the two new casting changes, probably the most controversial of the two being the addition of Knoxville as the voice of Leonardo. The role was originally set to be portrayed by relatively unknown actor Pete Ploszek, who's most notable credit is and episode of Parks and Recreation. While it's understandable that the studio may not be as confident in such a little known actor playing the leader of the turtles, it seems odd that they'd make such an abrupt and last minute change. As for Knoxville, he's to be a it of an odd choice given that he's more well known for playing a goofball in film's like Jackass and The Last Stand, and isn't the first person that would come to mind when you think of a leader as serious as Leonardo.
Woodburn and Ploszek has both already completed the motion capture work for both of the characters, so it's likely that will remain intact despite the changes. While Knoxville's casting initially seems off the mark, the actor may be able to bring the more teenage and playful side of Leo on to the big screen, and hopefully take a more serious approach to this role than he has in his past ones. As for Danny Woodburn's Master Splinter, the character will now be voiced by Tony Shalhoub (Pain and Gain), which to be quite honest isn't exactly and improvement over Woodburn. Neither actor really has the voice fitting for the wise Japanese sensei, so it's likely Liebesman and Bay are looking to take a much more different approach to the character.
The posters themselves aren't much, and those who were expecting the teaser posters to give us our first full look of each of the turtles will surely be disappointed. Yet, it's at least reassuring to know that each of the turtles will be sporting their unique weaponry, such as Leonardo with his katana, Raphael with his pair of sai, Donatello with his bo-staff, and of course Michelangelo with his nunchakus. The poster also shows us each turtle's set of protective gear on their arms, with Leonardo sporting the most padding. It'll be interesting to see how each turtle's full set of gear and armor varies from the others once we get our first official full look at them, but until then these posters seem be the closest we'll get for a while.
So what do you think of the new teaser posters for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Are you happy with casting of Knoxville and Shalhoub as Leonardo and Splinter? Let us know below!
