Wait a Morphin minute! What’s the truth about the upcoming ‘Power Rangers‘ movie? It was originally reported to be a reboot of the first incarnation of the series, ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ with fairly detailed script details and character descriptions filtering out. Initial reports were that the film would showcase modern, more complex takes on Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Trini and Billy, the same characters that kicked off the #1 kids brand.
But then came word that the new movie would NOT be a reboot, but an extension of the long-running TV show, kicking off with the current TV cast of ‘Power Rangers: Dino Charge’ passing the torch to a new team.
This seemed to be reinforced when the names of the new title heroes were released: Callum Oliver/Red Ranger, Priya Patel/Pink Ranger, Oscar Fernandez/Black Ranger, Brian Olson/Blue Ranger and Teyana Jones/Yellow Ranger. The earlier reports were that, like the original show, the heroes would be plagued by the return of the ancient witch Rita Repulsa and her champion Goldar. But when the “news” broke that the movie would not be a reboot, it was also stated that the villain would actually be Scorpina, one of Rita’s hench-creatures.
But now, once again, things are up in the air, as the official Power Rangers Twitter account tweeted this message, name checking the original characters:
⚡️ ⚡️ IT’S MORPHIN TIME, Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Billy & Trini! #PowerRangersMovie, coming 2017!
— Power Rangers (@PowerRangers) October 30, 2015
Was this tweet intended to dispel rumors of the new generation of heroes? After the conflicting reports, is the movie actually a reboot? That would certainly make older fans happy!
Then again, a huge production like this likely has a lot of moving parts. Could this tweet be a the result of miscommunication? Or just a flat out mistake?
Personally, I’ve always had a problem buying the idea that this movie would simply carry on the TV series, in no small part because the show isn’t very popular. ‘Dino Charge’ only manages around one million viewers an episode.
On the other hand, outside of the current toy line, nearly every bit of Power Rangers merchandising is of the original Mighty Morphin incarnation and more and more of that is skewed at adults that grew up watching the original show. There would be the same nostalgia factor that helped make cinematic hits out of ‘Transformers‘, ‘G.I. Joe‘, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles‘ and honestly, nearly every comic book movie. It’s these young adults that movie studios seem most interested in courting.
A ‘Dino Charge’-based movie would essentially be a “kids movie” with no appeal to adults.
As for now, nothing is set in stone and there have only been a few official announcemengs, including the casting. Check back, as we’ll be updating you whenever more information becomes available.
‘Saban’s Power Rangers’ will be directed by Dean Israelite, based on a script by Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz. So far, the movie stars Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger, Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger, Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, R.J. Cyler as the Blue Ranger and Becky G.(Gomez) as the Yellow Ranger. The $30 million movie opens in theaters on January 13, 2017.
What do you think? Which version of the ‘Power Rangers’ should be featured in the film?
Source: Cinema Blend