Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV (or The Next Mutation) is a cancelled 1994 superhero film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.^[1][2] It would have been directed by Steve Barron and written by Craig Shapiro and John Travis, being the third sequel in the Turtles film series, following Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993). It would have starred Elias Koteas and Paige Turco, with the voices of Brian Tochi, Robbie Rist, Adam Carl, and Tim Kelleher. The plot would have revolved around the Turtles getting new powers, and they would also get a new turtle, Kirby, who would have been the most hardcore of all the Turtles. April O'Neil turns evil and marries Casey Jones, teaming up with the Turtles' nemesis the Shredder.^[3]

Two writers, Christian Ford and Roger Soffer, wrote a screenplay called the Untitled Screenplay, or The Foot Walks Again. Both Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird thought the idea of changing the Turtles' backstories and characteristics was foolish, but conceded that it would have generated more interest in the characters. Once the New Line Cinema governor heard about the idea of a new Ninja Turtles film, he stuck around for distribution until the commercial failure of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, so they cancelled the "already planned out" film script, sceenplay, and act. The film was replaced by a 1997 kids' TV show, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, which is the first and only live-action television series in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.