It’s no secret that acclaimed actor William Fichtner will portray Shredder in the upcoming TMNT movie. However, the actor recently revealed the character’s real name.
It would appear the iconic villain from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic books is getting a facelift for the upcoming Michael Bay-produced movie. In the source material, Shredder was a Japanese guy by the name of Oroku Saki. However, this is all going to change for the big-screen endeavor.
During his recent chat with the folks at Screen Rant , William Fichtner revealed that his character’s name in the upcoming TMNT flick will be Eric Sachs.
“[The movie] is not like anything that I remember about the ‘Turtles’ before. I feel like this Michael Bay-produced movie is just gonna really be something else. I’m pretty excited,” the actor explained to the website.
Does this mean the character’s race will be changed for the new movie? Fichtner wasn’t quite ready to reveal all of the details about his role just yet.
“I think it would be much more exciting to find out these things as they unfold,” he said.
Why did Michael Bay and company decide to change Shredder’s race? According to Worst Previews , the reason may have something to do with the Armageddon director’s relationship with China. Various reports suggest the change was made to keep the peace with Chinese moviegoers.
Rumors suggest China wasn’t happy about the fact that Shredder was Japanese. Since Bay is currently fostering a relationship with the Chinese film industry , the character was ultimately changed. It’s currently believed Shredder will be an ex-military type in the upcoming adaptation.
Why would China care in the first place? Chinese production company Golden Harvest was responsible for putting together the original live-action films. The company is also responsible for financing movies from the likes of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.
In addition to William Fichtner , the updated version of TMNT stars Megan Fox, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Will Arnett, and Danny Woodburn. The film is expected to open in theaters across North America on June 6, 2014.
Are you a fan of William Fichtner ? What do you think about the actor landing the role of Shredder in the upcoming TMNT movie?