Fusco hired to revamp 'Ninja Turtles'

John Fusco has been hired to write the script for the new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

According to Variety, the film will focus on the origins of the sewer-dwelling Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and their rat mentor Splinter.

Fusco, who has been practicing martial arts since he was 12, expressed his excitement about reviving the karate-loving characters.

"It is always exciting when you can come aboard a project that bridges the worlds of what you do with what you love," he said.

The Ninja Turtles debuted 25 years ago in a comic book by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. It spawned three live-action films and 2007's computer-animated TMNT. The new movie is expected to arrive in 2011.