Director Dean Israelite talks Power Rangers plus first cast picture

March 3rd 2016, 2:32pm

There's a lot of folks who grew up with the original Power Rangers TV show that followed a group of high-school kids who are infused with unique superpowers, so I think everyone's a little curious to see how this new feature film, directed by Dean Israelite (PROJECT ALMANAC), is going to turn out. Today, we have the first cast picture, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, that gives us a look at Becky G, RJ Cyler, Naomi Scott, Ludi Lin, and Dacre Montgomery as Trini, Billy, Kimberly, Zack, and Jason. We also have Israelite talking a bit about the team, as well as the WETA-designed costumes and Elizabeth Banks taking on a role as a villain. Check it out!

Director Dean Israelite on POWER RANGERS:

From the very beginning, diversity was a very important part of the whole process. We switched all of the races around, but we made sure that the essence of each of those characters are who they were in the original show, and this really will be an origin story of those characters.

Regarding the new costumes:

We’ve really pushed ourselves to make them feel different from any other superhero costume that’s out there. One key that’s different to the Power Ranger suits is that they’re not really suits that people get into. They’re suits that morph onto our kids, so they already have this almost metaphysical quality to them.

On Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa:

It’s very exciting that we got [Banks], and I think what she loves is the opportunity to really embrace the insanity and deliciousness of Rita Repulsa in terms of how weird and wonderful that character was, and really dive into and consume that character. You should always be off-balance when you’re watching her. Is she insane? Is she totally calculated? Does she know what she’s doing? Elizabeth can toe that line really well.

While I wasn't a fan of the Power Rangers growing up, I am curious to see where they take this. RJ Cyler absolutely killed it in ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL, and Elizabeth Banks is always fun to watch, so they certainly have me on board as far as the casting goes. I never get into the cheese of the original show/films, so I'm hoping this reboot goes a much cooler route.

POWER RANGERS is scheduled to open on March 24, 2017.