Bryan Cranston provided the voices of two villains on the first iteration of ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ back in the day and will be playing Zordon in the upcoming film reboot. But it was his prior experience with the franchise that almost prevented him from rejoining.
As he recently stated:
“At first I was, to be honest with you, I was reticent to looking at the role because I remember the television series was kind of farcical and silly and ‘pow’ and ‘zow’ — weird movements and things like that. I was like, ‘Oh, OK.”
Not much is known about the new reboot other than it goes back to the earliest episodes of the 20+ year franchise with new versions of Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy and Kimberly as well as Zordon and Rita Repulsa. Despite Cranston’s hesitation, it appears that the new take will be playing things straighter than the campy original show.
As Cranston continued:
“I wasn’t really high on it until I talked to the producer and read the script and talked to the director. After that I went, ‘This is different.’ This is as different a reimagining as the ‘Batman’ television series as it became the ‘Batman’ movie series. You can’t compare those two, and nor can you compare this movie version of the ‘Power Rangers’ to that television series. It’s unrecognizable for the most part. There are tenets of the folklore that you hold onto for sure, but the inspiration is different, and the sensibility of it, and the approach to the film making is completely different.”
“I don’t know if the tone is as dark as that because you’re dealing with teenagers. So the appropriateness of that, and real teenage life, and going through high school and the cliques and the popularity or lack thereof, and the bullies and all the different sections and sub-sections of high school life, and the insecurities of these kids and things like that — hopes and dreams — and you embrace all of that into a retelling of the ‘Power Rangers.’ And what you would get is this new version, this new reimagined version.”
Lionsgate has a lot riding on ‘Power Rangers’. The last ‘Saw’ and ‘Expendables’ movies fell short at the box office compared to earlier installments, while ‘Divergent’ has not caught on as well as ‘The Hunger Games’. The studio is banking on ‘Power Rangers’ to be its next big break-out franchise.
To promote the flick, there will be a presence at SDCC in coming weeks. Star Dacre Montgomery, who plays Jason the Red Ranger tweeted the following pic, with the caption “See you very soon Comic-Con”:
See you very soon Comic-Con. #comiccon2016 #SanDiego pic.twitter.com/OWQAQc6T3A
— Dacre Montgomery (@dacremontgomery) July 5, 2016
It’s not clear if Cranston will be in attendance, but expect big news then.
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.
Directed by Dean Israelite, ‘Saban’s Power Rangers’ stars Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, R.J. Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Lisa Berry, Caroline Cave, David Denman, Anjali Jay, Sarah Grey, Emily Maddison, Kayden Magnuson, and Patrick Sabongui and hits theaters on April 24, 2017.
Are you ready for a grittier take on the ‘Power Rangers’?
Source: Collider
