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Report: POWER RANGERS Movie Title, Character Details, and Budget

It’s morphin’ time! No, not for you or me — unless you have a Megazord you haven’t told me about. You don’t have one, do you? DO YOU?! No, it’s morphin’ time for the forthcoming feature film reboot of Power Rangers, which is coming together like so many dinosaur and prehistoric mammal-shaped robots. So far we know that the film, directed by Dean Israelite, will star Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger, RJ Cyler as the Blue Ranger, Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, and Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger. Now, we’re about to learn a lot more because, according to a new report from Collider, the film not only has a title, but new details about the film’s budget and the characters have emerged as well. And no, in spite of my numerous letters to Dean Israelite, it isn’t Zordon: Tube of Dreams

The new Power Rangers movie will evidently be called…drum roll, please…Saban’s Power Rangers. Wait, really? That’s it? Okay, sure. Series co-creator and media mogul Haim Saban is clearly looking to reassert his control over the franchise, and attaching his name is definitely one way to do so. But Saban isn’t only involved in the naming of the film; he is also working behind-the-scenes on the script, alongside Dean Israelite and screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz. While the exact nature of the changes to the script remains unclear, we do know one major alteration: the character names.

Power Rangers

It had previously been reported that the Power Rangers movie would feature the same characters as the original television show. However, that has seemingly changed, according to the new report. Here are the new character names:

  • The Red Ranger/Tyrannosaurus  Callum Oliver
  • The Pink Ranger/Pterodactyl – Priya Patel
  • The Blue Ranger/Triceratops – Brian Olson
  • The Black Ranger/Mastodon – Oscar Fernandez
  • The Yellow Ranger/Sabretooth Tiger – Teyana Jones

Given that the film doesn’t even hit theaters until January 13, 2017, there is plenty of time for these names to change during the development and filmmaking process. But don’t worry that they’re throwing the baby out with the super sentai bathwater — the naming conventions have Zords attached to them, so it sounds like the familiar animal-themed murderbots will be back. Plus, the report indicates that the original costumes will make an appearance in the film, perhaps in an archival setting or a flashback battle scene. Maybe this will be a new batch of heroes discovering the old Power Rangers costumes and answering the call to action? Fingers crossed for a cameo by the original cast.

Now, how much is all of this going to cost, you ask? According to Collider, the budget is reportedly in the range of $35 million. If that sounds low, don’t worry. As noted in the report, 2014’s The Maze Runner had a similar budget and used a cast of mostly unknown actors to maximize its resources, and it went on to make $340 million worldwide. Will Power Rangers be able to do the same? Considering the immediate rush of nostalgia-infused endorphins that release upon merely saying those two words, I’m sure it will do just fine.

What do you make of these new Power Rangers details? What would you like to see happen in the film? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

HT: Collider

Images: Saban Entertainment

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. You can follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).

Hungry? Why not make some Power Rangers S’mores?

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