The Power Rangers series is one of the most popular and recognizable children’s franchises of the last 50 years. The original television series in the United States, which itself was based on the earlier Japanese series Super Sentai, premiered almost 30 years ago. Since then, there have been over two dozen seasons of Power Rangers, with the series cycling through countless different heroes and themes for the colorfully-clad team of superheroes. There were two feature films released in the ‘90s when the series was at its initial height of popularity; the Might Morphin Power Rangers movie, released in 1995, managed to pull in a decent $66 million off a $15 million budget, while its sequel, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, sank to a mere $9 million in box office receipts with a budget of approximately $8 million.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
While the Power Rangers series would continue to find success on television following the two ‘90s films, there wouldn’t be another Power Rangers movie officially produced until two decades later. In March of 2017, almost exactly 20 years after the release of Turbo, Lionsgate and Saban unleashed the big-budget return of the Power Ranger to theaters worldwide. The film, which was a reboot of the series advertised as The Breakfast Club meets The Avengers, brought the franchise to life in an entirely new way. There were hopes that 2017’s Power Rangers would be able to capitalize on the ongoing popularity of superhero films and launch its own universe and series of different movies. A post-credit scene attached to the film even teased the introduction of Tommy Oliver, the fan-favorite Green Ranger.
However, almost six years after the release of the new Power Rangers film, there still hasn’t been a sequel. The film never took off in the way that fans and the creatives behind it had hoped. With that and the other new developments and changes for the overall Power Rangers brand, it has become plainly clear that a sequel to 2017’s Power Rangers isn’t going to happen. The movie did have its fans upon its release, so what happened? Here’s what we know:
Box Office Performance
Lionsgate
Well, the biggest factor in the lack of a Power Rangers sequel is how the 2017 movie performed when it finally hit theaters. The movie received middling reviews from critics, earning a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 5.3/10. Meanwhile, audiences were similarly unenthusiastic about the movie, giving it a 65% audience score on RT with an average 3.6/5 rating, despite receiving an A in its CinemaScore polling. That initial response from its audience isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker regarding a sequel, though. There have been plenty of movies with much worse reviews that have received follow-ups as a result of their box office performance. Unfortunately for Power Rangers fans, the box office receipts for the 2017 reboot were just nowhere near where they needed to be.
The film was a big swing for Lionsgate and Saban, who sunk over $100 million into the production of the film. With a hefty marketing campaign to match, the Power Rangers movie likely needed to make at least $200 million to break even. After opening to a mere $40 million domestically, Power Rangers did not have the superstrength it needed to turn a profit. The box office disappointment of Power Rangers was undebatable; it only grossed a total of $142 million at the box office globally. This, in combination with the less-than-stellar reception from those that did turn out to see the movie, almost instantly killed any possibility of a direct sequel.
In the months that followed, things were pretty quiet when it came to any official word on the development of a Power Rangers sequel. One aspect where the film did manage to make some waves was in its merchandising, as the toy sales for the overall Power Rangers franchise spiked immensely as a result of the movie in 2017. Some were optimistic that these profits could justify a sequel, and the film’s director, Dean Israelite stoked these fires a bit over the summer when he said that talks about a sequel were happening at Lionsgate and Saban. As time went on though, these conversations in the public eye died down, and it became increasingly apparent that the actual chances of a sequel were slim.
Change in Ownership
About a year after the release of Power Rangers, news broke that Saban was selling the Power Rangers property. The toy and entertainment juggernaut Hasbro had purchased the franchise from them, along with a slew of other IPs, in a deal worth $520 million. This wasn’t the first time the rights to Power Rangers had changed hands, as they had previously been purchased by Disney in the early 2000s before Saban eventually bought the rights back in 2010. This change in ownership threw the possibility of a sequel to the 2017 movie entirely into the air, with nobody really knowing if it was good or bad news on that front. However, considering Hasbro’s frequent film collaborations with Paramount, it seemed likely that the franchise would receive some form of continuation on-screen.
Later that year, Hasbro’s CEO officially revealed that they were in fact developing a follow-up to the 2017 movie. The expected news that Paramount would be developing the film came only a few months later. This was in early 2019, and things seemed to be looking up for a Power Rangers sequel. Much of that hope was squashed, however, after star Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) was asked about the sequel in an AMA on Reddit, to which he responded plainly with “I think there is a movie in the works, but it’s not with me and the cast. So yes but not with us.” This would be the first official news that another reboot of the Power Rangers franchise was in the works, rather than a direct sequel to the last film.
Reboot in Development
After Montgomery’s comments, there was a lot of other news about the newest Power Rangers reboot over the next several years. Director Jonathan Entwistle was hired to direct the new film, which was still being developed with Paramount. In late 2019, TheWrap reported that the new film would “involve a time travel element in which modern day kids are sent back to the 1990s and forced to find their way home.” Entwistle’s involvement in the franchise would only continue to grow from there, as about a year later the news broke that not only would he captain a new Power Rangers film, but that he would be guiding a new phase of the franchise that would consist of various different films and television series.
Development continued on what appeared to be a new entertainment universe of sorts based on the Power Rangers franchise. Though, there were still no official casting or production announcements, much less the actual release of a film or series. In 2021, this new take on the Power Rangers changed houses, as Entwistle confirmed that the series of projects was shifting over to become a Netflix original. In an interview with Deadline, the President of Entertainment One, who is overseeing the franchise, said that “Since we set up Power Rangers with [Entwistle], we pitched a really whole-world approach. It’s not just one show; it is shows followed by films, some kids’ programming. We have found a great writing partner for him; they are off. Knock on wood, Netflix is excited, we’re excited, we hope to have some news soon.”
Despite all of this exciting new content being produced within the Power Rangers universe, a sequel to the 2017 Power Rangers film does not seem to be in the cards anymore. Whether it be as a result of the box office underperformance, the lackluster response to the film, the selling of the brand, the new creative team, or, the most likely reason, a mix of all of it, a follow-up to the last film in the series is not going to happen. While this might be disappointing to those who did enjoy the 2017 film and wanted to see where that iteration of the series would go, the concept of this new Power Rangers universe at Netflix does seem promising. Then again, there were also supposed to be like six sequels to the last movie, so we’ll see if that actually happens.
