With Lionsgate’s hit ‘Hunger Games’ franchise wrapped and with ‘The Divergent Series’ stalling, the studio needs a new cash cow… or in this case a cash Triceratops. ‘Power Rangers’ may not only save the day, but the studio too. The company recently told analysts that they planned to make “five, six or seven of them.” And unlike their previous branded movies, ‘Power Rangers’ isn’t based on a finite source. The original show aired in 1993 and has been running ever since, reinventing itself every few seasons with an all-new cast, costumes, villains and Zords.
The new film, ‘Saban’s Power Rangers’ is an updating of the first incarnation of the show, ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ but isn’t due until March 24 of next year. Lionsgate must already like what they have seen of the film which is currently filming, if they are already planning not just one sequel, not just a trilogy but “five, six or seven of them.” And while this cast may only last for three or four films, the movies could easily reboot just as the show has repeatedly.
Motion Picture Group Rob Friedman noted that minus the Top Ten movies every year, the remaining film releases make around $7 or $8 billion.
“We plan to take a pretty healthy piece of that. We believe very much of our strategy of offering more product for wider audiences and clearly at a more efficient price. If you look at the first Twilight and the first Hunger Games … we were planning for doubles and ended up with grand slams.”
Lionsgate has one other franchise hopeful: June 10 sees the release of ‘Now You See Me 2’, the follow-up to the 2013 magician heist flick. Should the sequel do as well as the first, expect more of those to come as well.
Are you excited by the idea of more ‘Power Rangers’ for the foreseeable future? Or do you think the studio is getting a little ahead of itself?
‘Saban’s Power Rangers’, directed by Dean Israelite, stars Elizabeth Banks, Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Ludi Lin, R.J. Cyler, Becky G., David Denman, Anjali Jay, Patrick Sabongui, Lisa Berry and Emily Madison. It morphs into theaters on March 24, 2017.
Source: Deadline
