Roberto Orci Exits 'Power Rangers'; Max Borenstein Returns to Pen 'Godzilla 2'; Gary Whitta Adapting 'Starlight'

That Power Rangers reboot everyone is dreading so excited about has lost exec-producer and franchise powerhouse Roberto Orci due to scheduling. It's not much of a surprise conflicts arose as he's set to make his directorial debut on Star Trek 3, which obviously is going to take priority. So where does this leave Power Rangers? Basically where it was before, with a pair of writers in Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-Men: First Class), a release date of July 22nd 2016, and nobody yet hired to direct it.

The Godzilla sequel is adding another familiar piece beyond director Gareth Edwards. Max Borenstein, who wrote that film as well as the King Kong prequel Skull Island, will return to hide Godzilla from us some more in the follow-up. We don't know much about the film other than its distant June 8th 2018 release date and that Legendary Pictures want to have Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidora in it. I keep stressing they did not "promise" to put them in it, just that they want to. Hopefully they'll find a way.

Mark Millar, the comics scribe behind Kick-Ass, Wanted, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, has another of his projects headed to the screen. 20th Century Fox picked up the rights to Millar's latest series, Starlight, last year before the first issue had even been published. Now they've added some impressive talent to get the adaptation going, hiring Gary Whitta to write the screenplay. Whitta previously wrote The Book of Eli and is currently working on Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spinoff. Starlight centers on former superhero Duke McQueen, who is called out of retirement to save the universe one last time. [THR]

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'Godzilla' Sequel Gets 2018 Release Date

One of the clever announcements made at Comic-Con had Gareth Evans, apparently on set filming sequences for his upcoming Star Wars spinoff, confirming that he would be returning to direct Godzilla. The film stomped its way to $500M this year and a sequel was green lit faster than Godzilla can spit atomic fire. With Edwards busy for awhile one thing we knew was that it would be some ways off, and now we know Godzilla 2 will be hitting theaters in four years.

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. will deliver their Godzilla sequel on June 18th 2018, which puts it up against one of Pixar's mystery films. What we know is that Godzilla will be facing some of his classic enemies with  Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah expected to appear and cause some havoc. Whether Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen can find time in their busy Marvel schedule to return is unclear. The two are set to star in next year's Avengers: Age of Ultron.

One has to wonder if tripling up Godzilla's foes is a way of quieting those who felt the last film lacked enough action. Plus, with Legendary Pictures also gearing up the King Kong prequel Skull Island, there's a good chance a Godzilla vs. King Kong movie will happen.

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Comic-Con: Gareth Edwards Teases Kaiju in 'Godzilla 2'

One of the most exciting moments in the history of Hall H was when Legendary Pictures first made clear their intentions for a Godzilla movie, exhilarating fans in a way that didn't subside until it hit theaters. Now during their panel here at Comic-Con, not only did they confirm Gareth Edwards returning to write and direct, but they even teased which monsters Godzilla may face.

A brief video was shown featuring Edwards as he was filming a "small little sci-fi movie" from a "galaxy far far away", confirming he'll direct Godzilla 2 when he's finished. That would be finished with his Star Wars spinoff, and perhaps the biggest news to come out of this is that he feels comfortable enough to reference it as a joke.

After that was done, Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull said he wanted to show us the monsters they were thinking about as Godzilla opponents. He then showed a teaser featuring Rhodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah, closing with the words "LET THEM FIGHT!"

Godzilla 2 is a very long ways off, which is why it may be smart to take this with a grain of salt. These are just what Edwards and Legendary HOPE to be in the film, but obviously the script could change everything.

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'Godzilla' Planned as a Trilogy with Gareth Edwards Confirmed to Direct

Now that Gareth Edwards is confirmed to direct the first of what will likely be many Star Wars spinoffs beginning in 2016, that left his involvement with future Godzilla sequels in doubt. Briefly in doubt, as it turns out, because Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull confirmed to Shock Till You Drop that Edwards is on board for the sequel, while THR reports it will be for a full Godzilla trilogy.

Tull: "Gareth’s filmmaking talent makes him one of his generation’s most creative and visionary directors. The plan has always been for Gareth to direct a different film before we started on another Godzilla, but who knew it would a Star Wars installment? We have a great plan in store for Godzilla fans and I am looking forward to seeing Gareth’s imprint on the Star Wars universe."

Godzilla sequels are still a ways off as a script is yet to be written, giving Edwards the space he needs to wrap up whatever his Star Wars film turns out to be. 

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'Godzilla' Sequel Already in the Works

Now that the totals are in and Godzilla is a confirmed smash with $93M domestic, plus another $103M overseas, it should come as no surprise that Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are thinking sequel. What's surprising is that they're moving on it so soon with Deadline reporting a follow-up is already in development.

Gareth Edwards' film only ran about $160M so both studios will be in the black on this one and then some, with the international market likely to power it for the long haul. One question is whether Edwards would return to direct it, or if he'll step aside and move on to other projects. Godzilla was his first big gig after the low-budget creature flick, Monsters, and he's going to be a hot commodity now. He can probably write his ticket to any project he wants. It's possible he slips into a producer capacity as he did with Monsters: Dark Continent. Edwards has talked in the past about employing a similar slow burn approach if he does another Godzilla film, and with this one performing so well there's little need to change the formula. Another question is how this will shake out on the distribution end as Legendary split off from Warner Bros. and joined Universal.

So there you have it. More Godzilla is on the way. Good news or bad news?

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