'Power Rangers' movie reboot news: Dean Israelite tapped to direct
The new "Power Rangers" movie might finally have its director, if Lionsgate and director Dean Israelite manage to ink a deal. TheWrap exclusively reported that the "Project Almanac" helmer is talking with the executives at Lionsgate and Saban Brands to finalize the deal to lead the highly awaited movie installment of the popular "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" franchise.
Israelite is fairly new to the filmmaking industry, but Variety reported that the studio execs were impressed with the director's presentation of how he envisions the new "Power Rangers" version.
"Power Rangers" was originally featured on TV in the early 1990s, and it became an international phenomenon. It featured a group of teeners who became masters of different martial arts disciplines, and later on discovered that they can connect their powers together to form a massive robot.
The franchise managed to stay afloat for the last 20 years, and its latest edition was launched in February 2015.
The new film for the franchise was initially announced in September 2014, and reports claim that the movie will be penned by Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller, who were also responsible for writing "X-Men: First Class" and "Thor."
It will be the third theatrical installment for the franchise. The first one called "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" was released back in 1995, and it managed to earn $66.4 million during its international release. However, the second one titled "Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie," released in 1997, failed to get the same success as the first.
ScreenRant posted the official synopsis for the upcoming movie, which reads:
"From a story by Executive Producer Roberto Orci (TRANSFORMERS, STAR TREK, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2) and screenwriters Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, THOR) comes a modern reinvention of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of ordinary high school kids who find themselves infused with extraterrestrial powers and must harness those powers as a team to save the world."
The new "Power Rangers" movie is expected to be released on July 22, 2016.
