👋 Damn — what a week for movies:

• 🎥 Caught Stealing | 8.29

• 🎥 The Roses* | 8.29

• 🎥 The Toxic Avenger | 8.29

Listen to our interview with The Roses writer Tony McNamara here.

TRENDING

• 🎬 First trailer for Shane Black's 'PLAY DIRTY': Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield pull off the ultimate heist against NYC mob.

• 🦸 Alan Tudyk improvised hilarious scene in James Gunn's Superman - director kept it in final cut.

• 🩸 Tarantino and De Palma defend film violence, say critics attack them for "doing their jobs correctly."

• 🚗 Ryan Gosling found 1973 Chevy Malibu in LA junkyard for Drive, rebuilt it himself, did own stunts, and kept the car.

• 🕵️ Matthew McConaughey reunites with True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto for new Netflix series.

• 🤖 Netflix releases official AI rules for filmmakers amid industry controversy over artificial intelligence usage.

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FEATURE

🎤 35 Years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The biggest marketing story is the 35th anniversary theatrical re-release of the original 1990 TMNT movie, which has been a massive hit. It cleared $3.3 million in its opening week and became the highest-grossing 2025 classic/repertory film for Fathom Entertainment.

The re-release features a special "Turtles Unmasked" featurette with never-before-seen footage from the archives, extended scenes left on the cutting room floor, home-recorded behind-the-scenes footage, and commentary from director Steve Barron. Due to overwhelming demand, the run has been extended through August 28, 2025, and they've already announced that "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" will return to theaters in March 2026!

🏛️ Museum Exhibitions & Cultural Celebrations

Dover, New Hampshire is celebrating being the birthplace of TMNT with a permanent "Birthplace of the Ninja Turtles Gallery" at the Woodman Museum, featuring art and memorabilia, a gaming corner with vintage arcade games, vinyl soundtracks, and signed first-run comics valued in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis ran "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secrets of the Sewer," a full-scale hands-on installation where kids could hone their ninja skills through March-September 2024. The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco held a TMNT sketch event and Toon Talk celebrating the expanded "Ultimate Visual History" book.

The Last Ronin is the most popular TMNT book on Amazon.

🎨 Comics & Publishing Celebrations

The franchise is celebrating both its 40th anniversary (TMNT debuted in 1984) and the movie's 35th anniversary. IDW Publishing launched a major reboot with Jason Aaron taking over the main TMNT series, plus released a special "40th Anniversary Comics Collection" featuring stories from creators across four decades.

IDW is releasing "TMNT: Original Motion Picture Special Edition: 35th Anniversary" in December 2025, containing the graphic novel adaptation with updated colors, Kevin Eastman's rough layouts, and cut scenes.

Get these collectible toys here.

🧸 Collectibles & Toys

NECA released a surprise "35th Anniversary Box Set" for $169.99 featuring all four turtles plus the rare Spirit of Splinter figure that was previously Loot Crate exclusive, with three exclusive movie backdrops and full articulation.

Playmates Toys is continuing their celebration with 2025 releases including remastered Shredder and Rocksteady figures, plus new Mutant Military wave figures. They're also doing major reissues of classic figures from the 80s and 90s.

"Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated series launched on Paramount+ in August 2024, bridging Mutant Mayhem and the upcoming 2026 sequel film, with corresponding toy lines and marketing campaigns.

Get this collectible pizza slicer here.

🍕 The Pizza Connection

Interestingly, while I found lots of pizza-themed toy vehicles and references to the Turtles' pizza obsession in the marketing materials, I didn't uncover any major food brand partnerships specifically for the anniversary celebrations - though that would seem like such an obvious marketing opportunity!

Bottom Line: The marketing around TMNT's anniversaries has been incredibly successful, with the movie re-release exceeding all expectations and creating a genuine "new wave of Turtlemania." The combination of nostalgia marketing, museum exhibitions, comics celebrations, and collectibles is hitting fans across multiple generations and price points. The theatrical success has already greenlit more anniversary releases, showing just how powerful this anniversary marketing campaign has been!

Complete oral history of the turtles here.

PUNCHLINES