Hasbro Developing Sequel to 2017’s ‘Power Rangers’
Lionsgate’s Power Rangers movie hoped to spawn a potential franchise, but low box office returns put a stopper to those plans in spite of relatively-warm reception from fans. However, since Bandai and Saban Brands have sold the license to Power Rangers to Hasbro, it appears as though the next iteration of the Americanized Super Sentai adaptation won’t be a reboot, but a sequel to the 2017 film.
Inside-Licensing took note of Hasbro’s plans between now and 2019, specifically bringing the team of teenagers with attitude into their established brands, and it’s not been a secret that plans for movies would be on the horizon. But the most important part of this article concerning the team of armored superheroes is the confirmation that the next movie is a follow-up (read: sequel) to the film that came out last year:
“Power Rangers’ will generate an operating profit similar to Hasbro’s other franchise brands and has a “significant opportunity for growth given where the brand had been most recently,” [Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner] said. Hasbro will work with a film studio to develop a new Power Rangers movie as a follow-up to the 2017 release.”
While the movie was a disappointment with $142M globally against a $100M production budget, Power Rangers toy sales reached an all-time high, and the movie apparently did pretty well on its post-theatrical run, which is why a sequel is now on the cards. Lead actor Dacre Montgomery got a huge boost in popularity as an actor after a prominent main role in Stranger Things 2 (which aired months after Power Rangers left theaters), and lead actress Naomi Scott will have a very big 2019 between Aladdin and Charlie’s Angels. While the cast were largely unknown at the time the first movie was made, perhaps their newfound popularity could help sell a sequel.
As of right now, the distributor for the proposed sequel is unclear, as the article itself implies. While Lionsgate distributed the original film, it’s likely that Paramount would take over due to their ties with Hasbro and their commitment to Allspark Pictures, a newly-established film division set to developing Hasbro properties for the big screen. It could be a situation like with Spider-Man: Homecoming, a film that Sony Pictures funded and distributed and that Disney subsidiary Marvel Studios produced.
Allspark pictures will make its debut with this December’s Bumblebee, which is currently set to be the last movie in the “Bayformers” iteration of that franchise, if it doesn’t end up serving as a prequel to a completely-rebooted Transformers franchise without Michael Bay’s involvement. Bumblebee is actually managing to get a surprising amount of solid pre-release buzz after its parent franchise became something of a punching bag for brainless blockbuster entertainment; perhaps Power Rangers 2 could pull off a similar miracle.
Power Rangers is available on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital formats.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
