The originally-planned opening to March’s Power Rangers reboot reportedly featured a handful of more familiar faces, as opposed to the tighter focus eventually used on the original Red Ranger (Bryan Cranston’s Zordon) and Rita Repulsa (the original Green Ranger, played by Elizabeth Banks).
While speaking with ComicBook, director Dean Israelite revealed that more of the original team was slated to pop in for brief appearances before the final story choices were made.
“There was an original drop that I read when I came onto the movie that had a more extensive battle in the beginning of the movie. And it had, I think, if I remember correctly, some of the other Power Rangers in there.”
So, why did the creative team behind the film ultimately only give audiences a brief taste of the original team? Israelite says the decision better fit the narrative.
“I always wanted to make it very subjective, very personal and this kind of intimate opening that set your expectations, that you know that you’re going into a superhero movie that’s going to try to do something a little bit different with the genre. It’s trying to be this more sort of personal character-driven story as opposed to a big fantastic opening that I think we’ve come to expect from a lot of movies. And I felt that the salient point, the story point, was really all about Zordon and Rita, and the rest just cluttered that drama.”
So, the story kept more original Rangers at bay during the opening sequence. C’est la vie. Will fans of the series get glimpses of Zordon’s old running buddies in the next installment? If it happens, perhaps.
The film opened to middling reviews and decent-but-not-earthshattering domestic box office numbers ($85.4 million in the U.S., $140.2 million worldwide), but since the Power Rangers are an evergreen I.P. (and the film’s merchandising sales were excellent), the powers that be could scale down the budget from the original’s $100 million and give the current cast another go. With the series ripe with tons of cheesy villains, the Power well isn’t likely to run dry for ideas anytime soon.
If you missed the original in theaters, Power Rangers is now available on home video to rent or purchase.
Source: ComicBook
