A poster from the 2007 animated TMNT film

"Wrath of the Titans" and "Battle: Los Angeles" director Jonathan Liebesman is in final negotiations to helm Paramount Pictures' reboot of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," Heat Vision reports.

Produced by Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, the film as been in development since 2009, when the studio's parent company Viacom purchased the rights to the property from The Mirage Group for $60 million. A new CG-animated "TMNT" television series is set to premiere late this year on Paramount's corporate sibling Nickelodeon.

Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comic series debuted in 1984 as a parody of "Cerebus," "Daredevil," "New Mutants" and "Ronin" featuring four sewer-dwelling anthropomorphic turtles -- Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo and Donatello -- trained in the martial arts by their rat-sensei Splinter. However, due largely to the efforts of licensing agent Mark Freedman, the property soon spawned animated TV series, movies, video games and endless merchandise. The fourth franchise film, 2007's "TMNT," opened at the top of the North American box office and grossed more than $95 million worldwide.

The most recent draft of the reboot was penned by "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec. Scott Mednick and Galen Walker, who produced the 2007 movie, will also serve as producers on this one.

Liebesman, whose "Wrath of the Titans" opens March 30, also directed the horror films "Darkness Falls" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" and the indie thriller "The Killing Room."