Speaking to
Huffington Post, actor Bryan Cranston has nothing but praise for one of his new projects, the live-action P
ower Rangers film from Lionsgate and director Dean Israelite. However, Cranston reveals that he was initially hesitant to join the cast. "
At first I was, to be honest with you, I was reticent to looking at the role because I remember the television series was kind of farcical and silly and ‘pow’ and ‘zow’ — weird movements and things like that. I was like, ‘Oh, OK.'
I wasn’t really high on it until I talked to the producer and read the script and talked to the director. After that I went, ‘
This is different.'
This is as different a re-imagining as the Batman television series as it became the Batman movie series. You can’t compare those two, and nor can you compare this movie version of the Power Rangers to that television series. It’s unrecognizable for the most part. There are tenets of the folklore that you hold onto for sure, but the inspiration is different, and the sensibility of it, and the approach to the film making is completely different.
I don’t know if the tone is as dark as that because you’re dealing with teenagers. So the appropriateness of that, and real teenage life, and going through high school and the cliques and the popularity or lack thereof, and the bullies and all the different sections and sub-sections of high school life, and the insecurities of these kids and things like that — hopes and dreams — and you embrace all of that into a retelling of the Power Rangers. And what you would get is this new version, this new re imagined version."
Is everyone underestimating the film? It doesn't help that Lionsgate has given the film a release date that's typically viewed as dumping grounds by the major film studios. But with the recent success of Fox's
Deadpool and the recent trend of Marvel Studios kicking off the blockbuster season in the dead of winter, perhaps the January-March window is not the dead zone it once was?
SYNOPSIS: Saban's Power Rangers follows five ordinary high school kids who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove – and the world – is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover that they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so they will have to overcome their real-life issues and band together as the Power Rangers before it is too late.
CAST & CREW:
Director: Dean Israelite
Screenwriter: Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz, John Gatins, Max Landis, Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless
Starring: Dacre Montgomery as Jason Lee Scott, the Red Ranger, Naomi Scott as Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger, Ludi Lin as Zack Taylor, the Black Ranger, RJ Cyler as Billy Cranston, the Blue Ranger, Becky Gomez as Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger, Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa, Bryan Cranston as Zordon
RELEASE DATE: March 24, 2017