Oh, what could have been. It turns out the 2017 Power Rangers reboot could have sparked a rather large multi-movie franchise had the film not fizzled at the box office.
Dacre Montgomery, who played Red Ranger Jason Scott in the film based on the iconic ‘90s teen superhero IP, recently revealed he and his castmates Naomi Scott, Becky G, Ludi Lin, and RJ Cyler had signed all on to make at least four Power Rangers movies.
“It was my first job. It was literally the most formative period of my life. Like after wanting to be an actor for 10 years and not getting hired, and then getting that film … it was a four-picture deal with Lionsgate. Similar sort of structure to what they did with Hunger Games,” Montgomery told MovieWeb.
Unfortunately, those plans were thwarted quicker than one of Rita Repulsa’s monster-of-the-week schemes when the film performed disappointingly at the box office.
“[We] had a lot of ambitions. It had a lot of creative expansion of the franchise, of the IP … It was going to be a whole big thing, but what can you do, right? We’re talking about money, and big business, and it didn’t recoup or make enough on the investment that the studio had made to continue making more,” Montgomery explained.
READ MORE: ‘90s Movies We Can’t Believe Got Remakes
The Stranger Things star isn’t bitter about Power Rangers 2017’s lukewarm numbers, though. In fact, he’s excited to see what happens next to the franchise, which is reportedly set to receive a live-action series reboot at Disney+.
“I hear they’re rebooting it again. I think Saban might have sold the IP off. I’m excited for the future of that. Power Rangers means a great deal to a lot of people. Whoever steps into those shoes, I know that they’ll be great, and I had the best time,” he said.
Released in theaters on March 24, 2017, Power Rangers received middling reviews and made $142 million against an estimated $105 million budget, reportedly losing the studio $74 million after marketing and other expenses.
Guilty Pleasure Movies From the ’90s
These ’90s films do not have good reputations. Most are cheesy and a few are really dated. We love them anyway.