Lionsgate Studios announced recently that the planned reboot of Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is scheduled for an early 2017 release. Originally slated for a summer 2016 release, the project has been pushed back six months, most likely due to other films released at the same time which would make for stiff competition. The Ghostbusters reboot and Guy Ritchie’s Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur. Power Rangers first graced the screens back in 1993 in the form of a television series that has been going ever since, with a new reiteration every few years.
Originally criticised for being too graphic and violent for a children’s TV show, it is not known what tone the reboot film will follow. The Power Rangers debuted on children’s television in 1993 and went for three successful seasons before being rebranded as Power Rangers Zeo, which didn’t reach the same heights as the original show.
At the height of Power Rangers popularity came the first of three feature length films in 1995. But due to contract disputes, the original Black, Red and Yellow Rangers (Walter Jones, Austin St John and Thuy Trang) were replaced by new actors for the film, where Austin St John (Red Ranger) would return for the next film. A first for the Power Rangers is that all the fight scenes in the film are original and shot for the film, as opposed to the TV show which reused footage from Super Sentai series in Japan.
The Power Rangers were bought back into focus when a 14-minute fan-made film was released to the world in 2014, albeit a slightly darker and grittier feel. The film featured the Power Rangers as adults, jaded and disillusioned from defending the world from Rita Repulsa and featured several Rangers assassinated in violent and gruesome ways. Directed by Joseph Kahn and featuring some of the original cast, the film was received well by both critics and fans, but attracted unwanted attention from Saban Brands, the company who own the rights to the Power Rangers. Unimpressed by the film’s dark and ultra-violent take on the classic children’s TV show, the company issued several takedown notices on all the video hosting sites. Later on, the company backed down and allowed the film to be online again, it has since insisted that the dark and gritty version will not be similar to the reboot.
It is not known what the tone will be on the new reboot, but what is known is original series co-creator Haim Saban is onboard as producer, who also worked on the previous films too. The director attached to the film is Dean Israelite, previously known for Project Almanac (2014) and joining him as the writing team are Ashley Miller and Zach Stentz, who as a writing team collaborated for X-Men: First Class and Thor. As far as the cast is concerned, there are still no concrete details revealed, but rumours have it that Thor’s brother Liam Hemsworth is involved, as well as Chloe Grace Moretz and Liam Neeson.
The Power Rangers reboot is planned for a January 2017 release.