Well, here’s some interesting news. Paramount has called in Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub to voice Leonardo and Splinter, respectively, in the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Originally, actors Pete Ploszek and Danny Woodburn were providing the voices, as they were the ones who did the physical performances. According to Deadline though, their contracts didn’t guarantee that their voices would be kept in the film and the studio was “always open to changing the voicing components.”
No word yet on if any of the other actors will have their voices replaced but at this stage, it looks likely. It makes sense from a commercial standpoint to do so and even if it is a bit of a bummer for the talent who did the physical performance, at the end of the day making movies is about money and having two well recognized actors like Knoxville and Shalhoub doing the voice work will no doubt lead to a lot more ticket sales.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrives in theatres on August 8th. Does the fact that Paramount has brought on new talent to do some of the voice work change your opinion of the film at all? Sound off below!
