'Power Rangers' Movie Lands Roberto Orci and 'X-men: First Class' Screenwriters

Seriously though, was there anybody out there really worried about the creative direction of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie? Well, maybe our own +Julian Lytle but anybody else? Probably not, since the TV series barely seemed to have any writers to begin with and the prior movies even less so. But SOMEBODY has to help steer this thing, and Lionsgate has found a few people to help do that.

Roberto Orci, the guy who helped make The Amazing Spider-Man franchise underwhelming before leaving it totally, has come on as an exec-producer. Orci is expected to be at the helm of Star Trek 3 when that gets rolling, and he also co-wrote the first two Transformers screenplays. He won't be asked to pen the Power Rangers' latest adventure, though, as that job will go to X-men: First Class scribes Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller.

Still no clue who will direct it. Any ideas? [THR]

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New 'Mighty Morphin Powers Rangers' Movie Coming from Lionsgate and Saban

When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers debuted in 1993 and became an instant smash with kids, many of them had no idea it was a show cobbled together from old Japanese footage from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. And frankly, it didn't really matter because Power Rangers became a phenomenon of the TV, toy, and feature film landscape. A 1995 film earned more than $60M, becoming a cult favorite on DVD, and now toy company Saban is looking to bring the Power Rangers back to the big screen.

Saban is teaming up with Lionsgate for a new live-action movie franchise that will "re-envision the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of high school kids who are infused with unique and cool super powers but must harness and use those powers as a team if they have any hope of saving the world."  The series has aired consistently over the last two decades, constantly changing its name and focus (it's now known as Power Rangers Super Megaforce), while maintaining a rabid fanbase. Our own +Julian Lytle  is a fan and I'm curious to get his thoughts on this.

No word on a writer or director yet but presumably more news will come on that soon. A fun fact about the Power Rangers? The original Blue Ranger was named Billy Cranston after the actor, Bryan Cranston, who had voiced many of the monsters on the show. If they can get Bryan to appear in this new franchise it would go a long way in getting me interested.

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