‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Sequel in the Works after #1 Box Office Debut

Michael Bay is returning to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise to produce a sequel for the new action movie after it debuted atop the box office this past weekend.

The summer crime-fighting blockbuster opened in the U.S. and Canada with an impressive $65 million haul and shortly after the news broke, executives at Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the project, announced that a follow-up is in the works.

Filmmaker Bay will again serve as producer, while screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec will return to pen the script for the movie, which is scheduled for release in June, 2016.

A statement issued by Adam Goodman, President of Paramount’s Film Group, reads: “Launching a new take on the Turtles into the feature film world was a daunting task because as fans of them ourselves, we felt a great responsibility to ensure audiences were going to experience everything they loved about the Turtles, while also getting to see them brought to life in a way they had never been seen before.

“The result exceeded our high expectations and the response to the film is beyond great, making it all the more fun to get started on the continuation of their story.”

It is not yet known if director Jonathan Liebsman will also board the sequel to the movie reboot.

The original live action film opened in 1990 with more than $25 million, eventually becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of the year with over $200 million in worldwide takings.

It spawned two sequels, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1991 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993.