Lionsgate and Saban have now officially set the release date for everyone’s colorful morphing teenagers. POWER RANGERS will hit theaters on July 22 2016, a prime summer release which opens opposite Guy Ritchie's KING ARTHUR. Saban's POWER RANGERS franchise is the brainchild of Haim Saban, creator and producer of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series that launched in 1993. That was the only series I ever watched and I think most of us are familiar with. There were two previous movies, Mighty MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: THE MOVIE in 1995 and TURBO: A POWER RANGERS MOVIE in 1997.
Here’s a brief synopsis:
Based on a story by executive producer Roberto Orci (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek Into Darkness) and screenwriters Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-Men: First Class, Thor) comes a modern reinvention of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of ordinary high school kids who find themselves infused with extraterrestrial powers and must harness those powers as a team to save the world.
Last month we told you that TRANSFORMERS and STAR TREK producer Roberto Orci opened up about the movie which is still in very early stages. He revealed that the film will exist in continuity with the world of the TV series and also discussed the kind of research that he, Miller, and Stenz have been doing in preparation for the script. Here are those quotes again, no sweat.
Orci said he and the writing team have been researching the history of POWER RANGERS:
“One of the first things we did was learn and read… [Saban] has 600 pages of research that they have on their stuff. We read through the synopsis of everything they did and we are actually taking into account quite a bit of the canon in a real way. We’re not just a leave it behind reboot. [Haim] Saban cares very much about that. This is something that he created. I had to go to his house, personally, to tell him, ‘Listen, I’m your man. Miller and Stenz, these are your guys. I promise you I won’t ruin your franchise.’ And he said, ‘It’s very important to me, because kids around the world know what the Power Rangers are. So you can’t just come in here and walk all over it. It better be consistent with what I’ve been doing.’ And I said, ‘Yes sir!’”
Whether the POWER RANGERS movie will exist within the continuity of the TV show:
“It’s got a continuity within the world. I can’t tell you what, but it does have continuity.”
So will you be watching on July 22, 2016?