In May 2014, Lionsgate Entertainment announced a deal with Saban Entertainment to develop a new "Power Rangers" movie. At that time, nobody expected the two companies to attract this level of talent to make the thing.
This is the Power Rangers we're talking about. It may be a mega-sized brand and it may be adored by children the world over, but it's despised by most adults for its cheesy acting, low production values, over-the-top fight scene silliness and ridiculously formulaic plots. (Seriously, every episode was the same story over and over again.) The new movie plans to reinvent the Rangers for modern audiences, bringing a new level of realism to the franchise with a bigger-than-ever budget.
It's been 21 years since the first iteration of the show, "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers," debuted on American television, and it's gone through 18 different versions (and counting) since, while rotating through a revolving door of countless color-coded Rangers. The series follows a group of ordinary high schoolers "with attitude" who are granted superpowers with which to fight the forces of evil.
Since the show was based on (and re-purposed footage from) Japanese kids show "Super Sentai," those forces of evil typically took the form of alien monsters that would eventually grow to Kaiju size. Borrowing a page from "Voltron," the Rangers would enter mechanical vehicles called Zords that combined to create a giant robot to battle the big baddie.
Lionsgate today announced that it's found its creative team for the movie, which is being called simply "Power Rangers." Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz will write the script, with Roberto Orci on board in an advisory role as executive producer. Miller and Stentz's credits include scripting the first "Thor" movie, "X-Men: First Class," and TV shows "Andromeda" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."
Orci is the real get here, though. He's well known for co-writing (with former partner Alex Kurtzman) blockbusters like "Star Trek" and its sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness," "Transformers," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and "Mission: Impossible III." The duo also created TV hits like "Fringe," the new "Hawaii Five-O" and "Sleepy Hollow." Miller and Stentz wrote four episodes of "Fringe" for Orci during its first two seasons.
Miller, Stentz, and Orci are the first talent announcements made for the "Power Rangers" movie. A director and actors will likely be the next hires.
Photo: Flickr/ze_bear
