Adi Shankar definitely made quite the impression with his super dark and brutal Power/Rangers short film, but don’t expect anything quite like that from director Dean Israelite in the upcoming Power Rangers feature. Here’s how Israelite described the script during an interview with IGN:

“I read the script and was really surprised by it and thought there was a really cool, contemporary, mature but still playful, buoyant and fun take on the material, and was updated in a really interesting way. It had this wonderful character that's essential to going on a fantastic adventure.”

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Image via Paramount Pictures

Israelite also added the following:

“Oh, yes, it needs to be completely playful, and it needs to be really fun and funny. But like Project Almanac, I hope it's going to feel very grounded at the same time, and very contemporary and have a real edge to it, and a real gut to it. So I think it's going to be a fun, joyful [movie] but one that feels completely grounded in a real world, with real characters going through real things.”


As much as I enjoyed Shankar’s take on the material, “mature but still playful” definitely seems like the right way to go. As someone who grew up watching and loving the original series, I’ve got my fingers crossed for something nostalgic, but Might Morphin Power Rangers aired 20 years ago. If Israelite’s Power Rangers movie is going to be more than an attempt to make a quick buck off the popular franchise and actually make an impression all on its own, it’s definitely going to need more depth than the original show.

Israelite said that they’re currently in “soft pre-production." He also noted that they’re shooting soon and hopes that casting news “is going to come out in the next few months.” (Perhaps at Comic-Con?) Power Rangers is due in theaters on January 13, 2017.

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Image via The Movie Database