Welcome to your one stop location for all the news about the upcoming Power Rangers movie.
Power Rangers is headed to the big screen. After premiering in 1993, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers took the world by storm, becoming a bonafide pop culture phenomenon that’s spawned over 23 seasons and two major feature films in the 90’s. Now a third film is on the way, courtesy of Saban Brands and Lionsgate.
* note: this article is updated regularly *
Power Rangers Movie Megazord
After a low quality photo leaked, the official Power Rangers account released an image of a toy for the movie's megazord. It's hard to base any opinion of the actual megazord off this toy, since we aren't sure if it's a 1:1 relation. The leaked image was a bit bulkier, so maybe this is more of a lightning mode (think back to Ninja Storm) for the megazord? Hopefully we'll get a full look at the megazord from the movie itself soon.
Power Rangers Movie Trailer
Released at NYCC, the Power Rangers movie trailer introduces our five teenagers with attitude and even teases the Rangers suits. No zords as of yet, but this is only the first of what we can assume will be many trailers. If you want an in-depth analysis of the trailer, check ours here.
What we learned in general is that the Rangers discover the power coins/morphers and it grants them extraordinary abilities. Not just the ability to morph into Rangers, but also super strength and being able leap long distances. The Rangers all appear to be outcasts in high school. Jason is brought home by the police, Trini is told to go die, Kimberly is on the outs from the popular crowd, Billy is constantly bullied, and Zack... Well we don't know much about him. Yet.
Power Rangers Movie Release Date
The film was originally scheduled for a release in July 2016, was pushed back to January 2017, and then further to March 24, 2017. This takes the spot of another Lionsgate property, The Divergent Series: Ascendant.
Back when the film was originally shifted to January, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer cited American Sniper of all movies as a recent example of how a post-Christmas movie can succeed, stating, “We're picking a dating where we think we can win.”
That March release date indicates even more confidence in the project. Hopefully it doesn't move any further.
Power Rangers Movie Cast
The main cast of the film includes Dacre Montgomery (A Few Less Men) as Jason, RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) as Billy, Naomi Scott (The 33) as Kimberly, Becky G (Empire) as Trini, Ludi Lin (Monster Hunt) as Zack, Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) as Zordon, Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) as Alpha 5, and Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect, The Hunger Games franchise) as Rita Repulsa. Thanks to Entertainment weekly, we got our first shot of the new Ranger cast in character.
There has been much talk about the swapping of the original characters races, with four the five Rangers changed. The director of the film stated,
From the very beginning, diversity was a very important part of the whole process. We switched all of the races around, but we made sure that the essence of each of those characters are who they were in the original show, and this really will be an origin story of those characters.
But what do the cast look like in suit? Well, we've got a series of teaser posers that not only include the zords but fully helmetless Rangers as well.
Power Rangers Movie Story
This film appears to be a reboot in line with other franchise’s like Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, taking the ideas of the original show and reimagining them for a modern day audience. The film’s plot is as follows.
Saban’s Power Rangers follows five ordinary high school kids who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove – and the world – is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover that they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so they will have to overcome their real-life issues and band together as the Power Rangers before it is too late.
There's an earlier synopsis, but it told us practically nothing.
"From a story by Executive Producer Roberto Orci (TRANSFORMERS, STAR TREK, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2) and screenwriters Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, THOR) comes a modern reinvention of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of ordinary high school kids who find themselves infused with extraterrestrial powers and must harness those powers as a team to save the world."
The trailer did give us some clues to the plot we discussed above, but we do know Goldar will be showing up! That's right, Rita's right hand lackey. No idea what he'll look like or who's playing him, but at least we've confirmed he'll be there!
Entertainment Weekly dropped a photo of the Rangers suits and while they echo the designs of the classic outfits, they have more of an organic feel.
Production designer Andrew Menzies (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) spoke about the design of the costumes, which may hint at plot points in the film, “Ours is an alien costume that grows on them, that’s not man-made. You can’t win everyone over, but we are trying to appeal to a more mature audience and gain new fans.”
An alien costume? That's a departure for Power Rangers, but anything is possible with a reboot! The suits also closely resemble Elizabeth Ranks as Rita. Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly we have a look at Rita's outfit for the film.
The outfit bears little resemblence to the classic Rita outfit, lacking the distinctive headgear, cone boobs, and staff. In fact, the outfit more closely resembles one of Rita's henchmen, Scorpina with shades of the Jungle Fury villain Camille. See for yourself.
See what we mean? The green seems like an odd choice until you hear what Banks had to say when she spoke to People about playing Rita.
It's definitely a modern and edgy re-imagining of the original Rita Repulsa. We wanted to give her a backstory that connects her to the new Rangers.
Hmmm. Backstory that connects to the Rangers? We certainly see that with how the outfit resmbeles the Rangers. Green color? Some set up for the eventual Green Ranger reveal? Throughout the trailer we see the color green, so it's not a stretch.
How much will the film be tied into Power Rangers past? Right now it’s hard to say, although when Roberto Orci was still on the project he commented, “It's got a continuity within the world. I can't tell you what, but it does have a continuity.” Whether that means simply including the old characters or actually tieing it into the plot of the new TV series remains to be seen.
Power Rangers Movie Production
The film is directed by Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) who spoke about how he got the job and the tone of the film in June 2015.
I read the script and was really surprised by it. (It’s a) really cool, contemporary, mature but still playful, buoyant and fun take on the material, and was updated in a really interesting way. I put a really big presentation together, because I needed to win the job. There were a lot of guys going out for it and saw the potential in it, so I put a really big presentation together and was lucky enough to get the job. (The tone of the film) needs to be completely playful. Like Project Almanac, I hope it's going to feel very grounded at the same time.
The script was written by John Gatins (Kong: Skull Island, Real Steel), Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (Dracula Untold), Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-Men: First Class, Thor).
Max Landis had spoken about his work on the film on his twitter, mentioning that his pitch was,” The Breakfast Club meets Independence Day”. The Breakfast Club vibe can certainly be felt in the trailer.. When the movie was officially announced, Stentz and Miller were the ones being touted as the main writers. Gatins, Sharpless, and Sazama’s involvement on the film was relatively unknown until the most recent press release. Whether they came in before or after Miller and Stentz remains to be seen.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Israelite spoke about wanting the story reflect the lives of teens today.
The new Power Rangers is a coming of age story for these “disenfranchised and disparate” high schoolers, who are not friends when the new story begins.
Roberto Orci was originally attached as an executive producer to the project but bowed out in September 2014. Now the movie is being produced by Haim Saban, Brian Casentini, Wyck Godfrey, and Marty Bowen (The Twilight Saga, The Fault in Our Stars, The Maze Runner franchise) with Allison Shearmur (The Hunger Games franchise; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Brent O’Connor(Warcraft) as executive producers.
The film also has Brian Tyler (Avengers: Age of Ultron; Furious 7) as the composer and the famed Weta Workshop (The Lord of the Rings) will be in charge of suit design and visual effects.
Keep checking back with Den of Geek for more news on the Power Rangers movie!