The guys who wore the motion capture suits for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are getting Darth Vadered out (seriously, they’re getting both someone else digitally reinserted over them and their voices replaced) in favor of Johnny Knoxville as Leonardo and Tony Shalhoub as Splinter, apparently.
It’s currently unclear whether all of the CG characters will have voice work done by new actors, but it looks like Knoxville and Shalhoub are a go for their parts to replace Pete Ploszek and Danny Woodburn respectively. A couple of the other Turtles talk in the trailer, but replacing voices from trailer to big screen is nothing new to Ninja Turtles movies, so don’t count anything as a certainty just yet.
Ploszek is a relative unknown, but Woodburn (Watchmen, Seinfeld) is a pretty recognizable actor, which kind of matches up with the caliber of their replacements. I mean, it’s hardly the weirdest casting decision in the movie, considering Shredder is now a white dude, so there’s that.
I’m not one to call out casting decisions, but the idea of Johnny Knoxville voicing Leonardo leaves me confused at the very least. I’ve said in the past that I’m cautiously optimistic about this movie, but I want to clarify that sentiment only stretches so far as, “I’m optimistic it won’t completely ruin everything in the universe.” That optimism is waning.
Don’t worry, though. If you’re bummed out, remember that at least you probably won’t be able to hear Knoxville over the sound of everything in the movie exploding.
(via Nerd Bastards, image via Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- The Turtles look better with their regular snouts photoshopped back on, surprising no one
- Here’s the trailer if you want to see the Turtles in all of their creepy, nose-having glory
- Their new origin has them being created by Shredder and April’s Dad, so at least they aren’t aliens
