NINJA TURTLES — First Trailer

The first trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has debuted on the web this week, after getting a preview at CinemaCon in Las Vegas and on NBC’s Today.

Starring Megan Fox as April O’Neil and William Fichtner as Shredder, Michael Bay’s new take on the graphic novel has all the sensibilities of a typical Michael Bay movie (such as the helicopter shot in the trailer…). Aesthetics aside, there’s a likelihood that Shredder has a new back-story that involves April, which is some nice handwavium to get her into the middle of the story.

An interesting look for the turtles, with the most likely target for complaints being the shape and design for their heads. And though producer Bay has backed away from the “alien origin” concept that was so hotly rejected online by fans, it does appear that the “ooze” origin has been given a makeover — with Shredder and O’Neil’s father working on a serum to create heroes in a time of chaos. Perhaps they were trying to re-create Dr. Erskine’s formula?

Will Arnett, who plays April O’Neil’s cameraman Vernon Fenwick, introduced the 30-second clip after bringing pizza to everyone on the Today crew, joking, “My buddies, the Turtles, it’s their favorite thing to eat. I don’t know if people knew that.”

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The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will hit theaters in August. What say you? Cowabunga?

Cast includes Fox, Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Noel Fisher (Michelangelo), Jeremy Howard (Donatello) and Pete Ploszek (Leonardo). The rest of the cast includes Arnett and Whoopi Goldberg, plus Danny Woodburn (Mickey from Seinfeld) as Splinter and William Fichtner as the Shredder. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman.