Anyone remember the 2017 Power Rangers movie? Well, in case you forgot about that one, star Dacre Montgomery — on the heels of his exciting role in the Faces of Death reboot premiering in theaters this weekend — revealed that the film was originally planned to be the start of a major franchise.
“It was a four-picture deal with Lionsgate. It was gonna be a whole big thing. But what can you do, right?” the actor explained during a recent interview with MovieWeb. During the convo, Montgomery also highlighted the fact that the studio wanted to turn the movies into a Hunger Games-style event franchise.
“We’re talking about money and big business,” he noted, explaining that the Power Rangers movie’s lack of box office success is the reason that never happened. “And it didn’t make enough on the investment that the studio had made to continue making more.”
Interestingly enough, though, it’s not over for the property just yet. “But I hear they’re rebooting it again. I think Saban might have sold the IP off, so I’m excited for the future of that,” Montgomery added. “Power Rangers means a great deal to a lot of people. So I know that whoever steps into those shoes will be great. And I had the best time.”
Though Montgomery — who went on to play none other than seasons 2 and 3 star Billy Hargrove on Stranger Things — and his fellow rangers such as Smile’s Naomi Scott and Becky G were a highlight, the 2017 action film ended up coming in at $142 million worldwide on a $100 million budget. Needless to say, that’s a pretty solid loss for Lionsgate, one that would certainly have them thinking twice about trying for more films. That said, it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here for our favorite Mighty Morphin’ crew.
Side note: it appears the second potential reboot Montgomery mentioned is separate from the upcoming TV series announced at Disney last year with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians showrunners at the helm. But we’re still waiting on more details there too.
Alongside Montgomery, Scott, and Becky G, RJ Cyler and Ludi Lin also played Rangers in the 2017 film, with Bill Hader, Elizabeth Banks, and Bryan Cranston rounding out the cast. You can rent or buy the movie now on Prime Video or Apple TV.
Photo by Desiree Navarro/WireImage.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.