Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello feel like actual teenagers in the new trailer for their upcoming animated movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. They’re in that awkward-but-fun-loving teen phase, getting into trouble, daydreaming about girlfriends, and looking for social acceptance — which bad guy Superfly, voiced by Ice Cube (and channeling Ice-T here), offers them.
But the the kids, raised by Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan), know better than to buy into Superfly’s menacing message of mutant domination over humankind. Fueled by pizza and cowabungas, Mike, Leon, Raph, and Donny plan to put an end to the evil mutant menace, whether or not Splinter approves of their post-curfew crime-fighting.
Moodier teens have another thing to look forward to in Mutant Mayhem: Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross scored the film, director Jeff Rowe recently confirmed (by way of Tony Hawk…?).
Well now that my teenage hero @tonyhawk has leaked that my music heroes are doing this I can add that the score is absolutely AMAZING. Exhilarating, terrifying, heartbreaking, full of sounds I didn’t know existed. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe it. I love it so much https://t.co/kN6KCdHqy1
— Jeff Rowe (@Roweyourboatz) May 28, 2023
The filmmakers behind TMNT: Mutant Mayhem say they were inspired by coming-of-age films, and the voice cast is led by young actors. In addition to Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, and Micah Abbye, who play Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello respectively, the voice cast includes Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog; Rose Byrne as Leatherhead; John Cena as Rocksteady, Jackie Chan as Splinter; Ice Cube as Superfly; Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut; Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil; Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman; Post Malone as Ray Fillet; Seth Rogen as Bebop; Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko; and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is co-directed by Jeff Rowe, one of the directors of Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and Kyle Spears, a storyboard artist on The Mitchells vs. the Machines. It hits theaters on Aug. 2.