4 Mar – Popular 90's TV show, "Power Rangers" will be making its comeback in 2017 as the big screen film adaptation has officially started production in Vancouver, Canada. "Project Almanac" helmsman, Dean Israelite is directing with a script credited to writers from "Chronicle", "Gods of Egypt", and "X-Men: First Class". The 2017 film will have a similar plot as the original, "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" TV show that came out in 1993. Saban Entertainment's "Power Rangers" follows five ordinary high school kids who become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove and the world is on the verge of being destroyed by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, the heroes quickly discover that they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so, they will have to overcome their real-life issues and band together as the Power Rangers before it is too late. This time the five rangers would not be 'matched' to their superhero suits (like the TV show) but will be mixed all around as the Black Ranger is no longer played by an African-American and the Yellow Ranger is no longer played by an Asian-American actor. Israelite spoke about the 'race-based color assignments' during an interview with Entertainment Weekly (EW), "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 essences of each of those characters are who they were in the original show, and this really will be an origin story of those characters." As depicted in the photo above, the all-new reimagined "Power Rangers" stars RJ Cyler as Billy (Blue Ranger), Naomi Scott as Kimberly (Pink Ranger), Ludi Lin as Zack (Black Ranger), pop star Becky Gomez as Trini (Yellow Ranger), and newcomer Dacre Montgomery as Jason (Red Ranger).
Dean Israelite also mentioned about Elizabeth Banks playing the notorious alien villain, Rita Repulsa in the interview with EW. "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." It won't be easy for Israelite though, as DC and Marvel have already accounted for six superhero movies for 2016, with many more in the coming years. He indicated that he is going for a more mature tone than what the 90's show depicted, but not forgetting its playfulness. With regard to what the Rangers' uniforms will look like in his film, Israelite said, "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." It sure is exciting to get a "Power Rangers" production with the latest cinematic improvements! Only time will tell if this film will be a box office hit or otherwise. (Photo Source: Entertainment Weekly)