Nickelodeon Acquires Global Rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
21 Ottobre 2009 - 3:05PM
PR Newswire (US)
Nickelodeon to Develop New CG-Animated Television Series and
Paramount Pictures to Develop Feature Film of Renowned Global
Property NEW YORK, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Furthering its mission
to provide premium content to its audiences, Nickelodeon--part of
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIANYSE:VIA.B)--has
acquired the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from
The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:KDE). The
acquisition provides Nickelodeon, the world's number-one
entertainment brand for kids, global intellectual property rights
to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the hit television, film and video
game property that has delighted kids around the world for the last
25 years. The aggregate purchase price for the transactions is
approximately $60 million. Nickelodeon also announced plans to
develop a new CG-animated television series based on the popular
superhero franchise, anticipated to premiere in 2012. Additionally,
in partnership with Viacom's Paramount Pictures, a new release of a
new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film is also planned for
2012. Nickelodeon has also acquired all merchandising rights to
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and will continue to work with its
original and long-standing toy partner, Playmates Toys, which has
been the creative force behind the successful TMNT master toy
program over the last two decades. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added
layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an
evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences," said
Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group.
"We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus
on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation
of kids." "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that
maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with
opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property
for us to work together with Nickelodeon," said Adam Goodman,
President, Paramount Pictures. "Mirage has been the proud keeper of
the Turtles' brand since 1984, and in 2009 we celebrated their 25th
anniversary with our legions of fans," said Gary Richardson, CEO,
Mirage Studios. "Nickelodeon is a powerhouse global brand, and we
are confident that the company will be a wonderful steward for
Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello and all the other TMNT
characters and take them in all kinds of exciting and new creative
directions." "We enjoyed our eight-year partnership with Mirage
during which 4Kids and Mirage re-launched the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles franchise for a new generation of kids around the world,"
said Alfred Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. "We
will also work with Mirage and Viacom so that our Turtles'
licensees can be assured of a seamless transition." Considered one
of the most popular kids' television programs of the 1980s, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, global property created in 1984
by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It first debuted as a successful
comic book series and then became a hit animated TV show, a
live-action television series, and later spawned four blockbuster
theatrical releases. The property also has translated into a
significant consumer products business--with DVDs, video games,
toys and more--that has generated billions of dollars at retail.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on four mutant
turtles--trained in the art of Ninjitsu--who battle evil from the
New York sewers. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated
television series--jointly produced by 4Kids Entertainment and
Mirage Studios--will continue to air on "TheCW4Kids" Saturday
morning programming block on The CW network through Aug. 31, 2010.
About Nickelodeon Nickelodeon, now in its 30th year, is the
number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse,
global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The
company includes television programming and production in the
United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online,
recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television
network is seen in almost 100 million households and has been the
number-one-rated basic cable network for 15 consecutive years. For
more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com/.
Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are
trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIANYSE:VIA.B). About Mirage
Studios The Mirage Group is a group of companies, including Mirage
Studios, Inc., located in Northampton, Massachusetts, that owned
and managed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property from its
creation in 1984 through 2009. About 4Kids Entertainment Master
licensing agent for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 4Kids
Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:KDE), is a global organization devoted to
the creation, development, production, broadcasting, licensing and
manufacturing of children's entertainment products, with U.S.
headquarters in New York City, regional offices for its trading
card business in San Diego, California, and international offices
in London and Hong Kong. Cautionary Statement Concerning
Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains both
historical and forward-looking statements. All statements that are
not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be,
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the
Company's current expectations concerning future results,
objectives, plans and goals, and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and
which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to
differ. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among
others: the worsening of current economic conditions generally, and
in advertising and retail markets in particular; the public
acceptance of the Company's programs, motion pictures and games on
the various platforms on which they are distributed; competition
for audiences and distribution; technological developments and
their effect in the Company's markets and on consumer behavior;
fluctuations in the Company's results due to the timing, mix and
availability of the Company's motion pictures and games; changes in
the Federal communications laws and regulations; the impact of
piracy; other domestic and global economic, business, competitive
and/or regulatory factors affecting the Company's businesses
generally; and other factors described in the Company's news
releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K and reports on Form
10-Q and Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements included in this
document are made only as of the date of this document, and the
Company does not have any obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or
circumstances. DATASOURCE: Nickelodeon CONTACT: Dan Martinsen of
Nickelodeon, +1-212-846-8116, ; or Barry Stagg of 4Kids
Entertainment, +1-646-822-4257, Web Site: http://www.nick.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/583050.html
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