Despite all the nay-saying and online hate from fans everywhere, this past summer’s big screen reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from producer Michael Bay ended up being a surprise hit, especially with the Turtles’ core audience of little kids, even if it missed the mark with the now-adult children of the nineties who grew up with the original version of the comic and cartoon series.

It was then no surprise that as soon as that first opening weekend was over, Paramount announced a sequel with a release date of summer, 2016. Despite the success of the first movie however, it looks like Paramount was eager to go in another direction with the sequel, and started actively looking for another director to take over from the first movie’s Jonathan Liebesman. Their choice to replace Liebesman is none other than David Green, the director of another summer 2014 family film, Earth to Echo.

Besides their new director, right now everything else about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 is pretty much up in the air, although it is safe to assume that most of the first movie’s cast members will return, including Megan Fox as April O’Neil, with Will Arnett’s returning also a strong possibility. Johnny Knoxville, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, and Jeremy Howard are probably contractually obligated to return as the voices of the turtles.

Recently, Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes producing partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, in an interview with Omelette, confirmed for TMNT devotees that fan favorite characters Bebop and Rocksteady would appear in the movie, and that the Turtles’ human companion Casey Jones is another good bet. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on June 3rd, 2016. No word yet on any involvement from Vanilla Ice for old time’s sake.

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HT Variety