Veteran WWE Superstar John Cena has joined the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.
The official TMNT Twitter account announced this weekend that Cena will voice Rocksteady in the computer-animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” movie that hits theaters on Friday, August 4. Cena has joined an all-star cast, as seen below.
“Mutant Mayhem” will reboot the TMNT film franchise, and is the first animated entry since “TMNT” in 2007. This will serve as the first installment of a potential franchise.
Nickelodeon first announced the movie in June 2020. Seth Rogen will voice Rocksteady’s sidekick Bebop, but Rogen will also serve as producer, along with Evan Goldberg and James Weaver, through the Point Grey Pictures banner. Jeff Rowe will direct the movie in his feature directorial debut, while Brendan O’Brien wrote the screenplay. The design and animation were inspired by sketches that director Rowe drew in his school notebooks as a teenager. The animation was done by Cinesite (recent works include Matilda, Wakanda Forever, Thor: Love & Thunder) and Mikros Animation (recent works include PAW Patrol in 2021 and 2023, SpongeBob on the Run).
In the movie, the Turtle brothers set out to be accepted as normal teenagers while taking on a notorious crime syndicate and an army of mutants. The team behind the movie was looking to explore the teenage aspect of the Turtles more than previous films and TV series have.
The official synopsis for the Paramount Pictures film reads like this: “After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtles set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a notorious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.”
Below is the full cast:
* Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo
* Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo
* Micah Abbey as Donatello
* Brady Noon as Raphael
* Jackie Chan as Master Splinter
* Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil
* Ice Cube as Superfly
* Seth Rogen as Bebop
* John Cena as Rocksteady
* Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko
* Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut
* Rose Byrne as Leatherhead
* Post Malone as Ray Fillet
* Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog
* Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom
* Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman
Amazon Studios announced this week that Cena will star in the “Grand Death Lotto” action-comedy film, which begins production next week. Cena was recently announced another Amazon film for Prime Video, the R-rated comedy “Ricky Stanicky,” which was to film in Melbourne, Australia last month and this month. Cena was also set to star in action comedy “Heads of State” with Idris Elba, another Amazon Studios project that is described as “Air Force One meets Midnight Run,” with a focus on a mismatched pair, Cena and Elba, who are in over their heads in a high-stakes situation. Details on this movie have been limited since the initial announcement in October 2020 and the follow-up in October 2022.
Cena will next be seen in “Fast X,” where he will reprise his role as Jakob Toretto. The latest film in the Fast & Furious franchisee hits theaters on Friday, May 19. Other upcoming projects for Cena include spy thriller “Argylle
” for Apple TV, to be released some time this year, plus “Honeymoon Friends,” the Hulu comedy that serves as the sequel to “Vacation Friends” from 2021. The release date for this film has not been announced, but it is also expected some time this year.Cena will make his WWE TV return on Monday’s RAW from his hometown in Boston. It’s believed that he will then challenge WWE United States Champion Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39.
Below is the Twitter announcement on Cena’s TMNT role:
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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