Power Rangers To Be Rebooted in Live-Action Film from Lionsgate

[roseofbattle]

Power Rangers To Be Rebooted in Live-Action Film from Lionsgate

The live action TV series Power Rangers is getting a movie reboot.

Lionsgate and Saban Brands announced today their partnership for an upcoming live action movie reboot of Power Rangers. The movie will be based on the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers live action television series from 1993.

Power Rangers creator Haim Saban and Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer noted the series' history and popularity as a brand. Toys, clothes, costumes, video games, comic books, and TV shows have reimagined the Power Rangers for two decades.

The rebooted franchise re-envisions the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a group of kids in high school who have super powers and must act as a team to save the world.

"Lionsgate is the perfect home for elevating our Power Rangers brand to the next level," Saban said in a prepared statement. "They have the vision, marketing prowess, and incredible track record in launching breakthrough hits from The Hunger Games to Twilight to Divergent. In partnership with the Lionsgate team, we're confident that we will capture the world of the Power Rangers and translate it into a unique and memorable motion picture phenomenon with a legacy all its own."

Feltheimer said Lionsgate is prepared to maximize the potential of the Power Rangers franchise. "The Power Rangers' stories and characters have been embraced by generations of audiences for more than 20 years, and today they are more powerful than ever."

Reboots seem all the rage these days from Spiderman to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Godzilla. A release date for the Power Rangers reboot was not announced.

Source: Lionsgate, Saban [http://www.powerrangers.com/featurefilmannouncement.pdf]


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[Tireseas_v1legacy]

*sigh...* Can we not do this? Part of the charm of Power Rangers was its sheer campyness. Unless you're going to go for that, walk away from this project...

 

[Lizardon]

Does it really count as a reboot of the franchise if the franchise has been putting out a new installment almost every year since 1993?

I'm really hoping that this isn't going to be trying to make a mature movie that will apeal to those of us who grew up with the show. I feel that Power Rangers and serious just doesn't go well together. I'd much rather they made it a movie targeted at the kids who are watching the current series. Either way, I'd probably go and see it.

Besides, the greatest Power Ranger movie (Super Sentai technically) has already been made.
This is not the climax of the film, this is the opening scene.

 

[tzimize]

This...just cant be true. It'll be REALLY hard to sell a group named Power Rangers with their silly powers with a straight face...and if you're gonna do it as camp as the original...it'll be more like self-referencing garbage...

Well...at least it cant be worse than Transformers 3.

 

[Fasckira]

If they can persuade Amy Jo Johnson (the original Pink Power Ranger) to be in it I will be delighted. Shes lovely.

Spoiler: Amy Jo Johnson

Teenage wet-dream nostalgia aside, I reckon this could be good if it were handled by the right people but sadly I dont think the right people work at Lionsgate. A reboot based on the original needs to be funny, cliché and over-the-top, whereas I think Lionsgate will try and make it a bit too self-depreciating, with too many "Urgh, look how retarded we are being!" moments in the script.

Meh, time as always will tell.

 

[josemlopes]

Obviously they are going to fuck it up and make an unnecessarily serious reboot with a tacticool uniform like this:

Spoiler

 

[Dreadman75]

"They have the vision, marketing prowess, and incredible track record in launching breakthrough hits from The Hunger Games to Twilight to Divergent.

Seriously?! These are the movies you decide to cite as some of Lionsgate's best work? TWILIGHT OF ALL THINGS?! What is wrong with you? Saban, just saying this does not inspire confidence, especially if he wants a Power Rangers movie in the same vein as those listed above.

To say nothing of him most likely trying to replace Jason David Frank. Is that even possible? That man has a reputation among Power Rangers fans as one of, if not the best, Ranger ever. Honestly, how do you begin to replace someone like him?

 

[V4Viewtiful]

I'm excited and concerned, fingers crossed. Bulk & Skull FTW!

I may take my niece and nephew with me as a front to watch it, or go proudly with a mate

 

[Marter]

Seriously?! These are the movies you decide to cite as some of Lionsgate's best work? TWILIGHT OF ALL THINGS?! What is wrong with you? Saban, just saying this does not inspire confidence, especially if he wants a Power Rangers movie in the same vein as those listed above.

<url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=twilight.htm>Sure it does.

Have you seen how much money Twilight's made? That's what these people are caring about in that statement. They're talking about the ability to market these types of films.

The one you should be picking on is Divergent, which did nowhere near the numbers of the other two (although it was still a success).

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

what the power rangers series needs is less embarrassing writing and more self awareness. I mean, who says shows for kids can't be well-written? Look at Adventure Time. There's so much potential in the franchise, it's just that it has never been fully realised.

I just hope it's not going to end up being a gritty, serious reboot for 'grown ups'.

 

[Flatfrog]

Didn't we already have this? IIRC it was called something like Pacific Rim.

(ducks and runs)

 

[evilnancyreagan]

Can we as a collective remove the cash-sink funnel from the nostalgia wasteland we're trapped in and burn that money on something that might actually benefit all of humankind? Perhaps on something like - Oh, I don't know - a space program? Say what you want about the ruskies but, at least they have the means to get into space.

Seriously though, because THIS is something we should really dump almost half a million dollars into:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134254-Shaq-Fu-A-Legend-Reborn-Hits-Buzzer-Beating-Funding-Goal-of-450-000

 

[Ukomba]

Fing reboots, tjis one doesn't wven make sense, Power Rangers are constantly making new things anyways that have very little connection to each other.

 

[Flatfrog]

what the power rangers series needs is less embarrassing writing and more self awareness.

You're missing the point of the show. Power Ranges exists for one goal alone, in which capacity it is possibly the greatest TV series ever made: it is a vehicle for selling toys to eight-year-olds.

Seen in this light, all the supposed 'flaws' of Power Rangers are actually brilliant marketing decisions.

- The formulaic nature of the show is a great way to ensure that children know 'how to play' Power Rangers. Narrative is simple, and the fights follow a predictable pattern which kids can replicate easily.
- Over the course of each series, new gadgets and zords are added regularly, at a pace which allows kids to keep badgering their parents to buy them. (I always love it how at the end of the series there's so much crap the Rangers scarcely have enough time in a fight to use it all, and the zords end up looking like a Katamari Damasi game)
- Crucially, Power Rangers avoids the trap which most live-action shows fall into, of having props that are too awesome-looking. The gadgets the Rangers use are *exactly the same plastic tat* the kids can buy in the shop, meaning no disappointment when you open the box.
- And of course, the fact that every series starts afresh with a whole new set of Rangers (and a whole new set of tat) means the bucks just keep on rollin' in.

 

[wolf thing]

I dont know this could be cool, there tones to draw from, with all the sentia stuff around, and it would be cool to see and strait up westernized version, instead of using re-purposed footage. What would kick arse would be a campy, retro power rangers, but where they fight cthulhu.

 

[Racecarlock]

The rebooted franchise re-envisions the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a group of kids in high school who have super powers and must act as a team to save the world.

Woah, slow down there crazy people, I don't think I can handle this level of innovation!

Also

"Lionsgate is the perfect home for elevating our Power Rangers brand to the next level," Saban said in a prepared statement. "They have the vision, marketing prowess, and incredible track record in launching breakthrough hits from The Hunger Games to Twilight to Divergent. In partnership with the Lionsgate team, we're confident that we will capture the world of the Power Rangers and translate it into a unique and memorable motion picture phenomenon with a legacy all its own."

Hahahahahaha. Twilight and the hunger games hits. That's funny. I guess if you're talking about fans of the books.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

what the power rangers series needs is less embarrassing writing and more self awareness.

You're missing the point of the show. Power Ranges exists for one goal alone, in which capacity it is possibly the greatest TV series ever made: it is a vehicle for selling toys to eight-year-olds.

Seen in this light, all the supposed 'flaws' of Power Rangers are actually brilliant marketing decisions.

- The formulaic nature of the show is a great way to ensure that children know 'how to play' Power Rangers. Narrative is simple, and the fights follow a predictable pattern which kids can replicate easily.
- Over the course of each series, new gadgets and zords are added regularly, at a pace which allows kids to keep badgering their parents to buy them. (I always love it how at the end of the series there's so much crap the Rangers scarcely have enough time in a fight to use it all, and the zords end up looking like a Katamari Damasi game)
- Crucially, Power Rangers avoids the trap which most live-action shows fall into, of having props that are too awesome-looking. The gadgets the Rangers use are *exactly the same plastic tat* the kids can buy in the shop, meaning no disappointment when you open the box.
- And of course, the fact that every series starts afresh with a whole new set of Rangers (and a whole new set of tat) means the bucks just keep on rollin' in.

oh no, I understand that perfectly. But the fact that the show fulfills its purpose does not make it good. At it's current stage it's beyond cynical. Remember that most 80's and early 90's cartoons were also designed to sell toys but that did not prevent them from being good.

At this point, power rangers doesn't even deserve to be called a glorified commercial. The point when they took out collectible trading cards that apparently give them superpowers in the new series was the point when I realised just how jaded and cynical the series has become. Selling toys, as valid an objective as it is, should not be the only purpose of a series such as power rangers. There should be entertainment value in it as well.

So no, I do not think I'm missing the point of the series just because I suggested that it needs better writing. Which i does.

 

[Kmadden2004]

This... this could actually be okay. If they're smart about it, that is.

And I'm saying that as somebody who's never been particularly fond of the series.

Looking back at the show, I have grown to feel that the premise behind it (e.g. tech vs magic, teens with great potential growing into leadership roles, etc) was pretty solid, it just feels like it was held back by both the budget and the general attitude toward the genre and audience in the decade it was produced.

Just as long as they make the reboot more Whedonesque than the crappy "Bayhem" treatment TMNT and Transformers have received...

 

[Flatfrog]

oh no, I understand that perfectly. But the fact that the show fulfills its purpose does not make it good. At it's current stage it's beyond cynical. Remember that most 80's and early 90's cartoons were also designed to sell toys but that did not prevent them from being good.

But did it prevent them from selling as many toys? Other toy lines have come and gone but Power Rangers has lasted an incredibly long time. Focusing on strong storytelling has a downside: eventually you run out of good stories. But they'll never run out of Power Rangers stories because they're always the same damn story.

At this point, power rangers doesn't even deserve to be called a glorified commercial. The point when they took out collectible trading cards that apparently give them superpowers in the new series was the point when I realised just how jaded and cynical the series has become. Selling toys, as valid an objective as it is, should not be the only purpose of a series such as power rangers. There should be entertainment value in it as well.

Well, obviously I agree, but I'm not sure where "should" comes into the equation! Ultimately, if people keep watching and buying the tat, they'll keep making them.

Oddly, I'm actually rather a fan of Power Rangers' mode of storytelling. Within the very rigid framework, they sometimes work much harder than you might expect. When my kids were into Dino Thunder, I watched most of it with them and thought it had some surprisingly good material, and Mystic Force wasn't too bad either. And then there was the one with the ninjas and the talking hamster, so there's that.