Hot on the heels of the news that Roberto Orci had officially split from the production of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 3’, comes word that he won’t be parting ways entirely with spandex clad heroes.  He’s just signed to executive produce ‘The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ movie.   The film is being developed by Lionsgate and Saban, who owns the original rights to the property.  Additionally, ‘X-Men: First Class’ writers Ashley Miller and Jack Stentz will tackle the script.

Orci, a noted screenwriter behind the ‘Star Trek’ movies will also contribute to the script with Miller and Stentz handling the final product.  The pair has previously worked with Orci on ‘Fringe’.

The new movie is a revamp of the original concept of five high school students who must learn to harness magical super powers in an effort to battle alien monsters.  It hasn’t been confirmed but presumably, the characters will be Jason, Billy, Kimberly, Trini and Zack the original and most famous characters to headline the show.  They were played by Austin St. John, David Yost, Amy  Jo Johnson, Thuy Trang and Walter Jones (in that order).  The breakout character, however was Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger played by Jason David Frank.  He wasn’t an original Ranger though so, if this is an origin story, we may have to wait for a sequel to see him.

The original show began airing on Fox Kids in 1993 and since then, there has always been some version of the show on the air.  The show recycled footage from a Japanese sentai series, with the American cast only appearing in civilian garb.  Once they “morphed” the show switched to the Japanese footage, which is why Trini’s costume doesn’t have a skirt… the Japanese Yellow Ranger was a man!  The show became an instant smash.  After some cast changes, in 1995, a live action movie was released.

The concept, especially the original characters are seeing a surge in popularity as the kids who watched it and played with the toys are now college age.  The original cast has been attending conventions more and more and are seeing a cross-generation turn out in fans, with some original fans now introducing their kids to the brand.  It certainly seems like the time is right to reboot MMPR!

Are you excited to see this concept relaunched for a new generation?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter