Power Rangers movie to be "playful" and "very grounded"

The new film of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers remains scheduled in its confirmed release slot of January 2017, with Lionsgate and Saban looking for it to kickstart a new movie franchise off the back of it.

The film is set to be directed by Dean Israelite, whose first feature - Project Almanac - arrived in cinemas earlier this year. Israelite has been talking to IGN about the Power Rangers movie, and told the site that "I read the script and was really surprised by it," adding that he thought there was a "really cool, contemporary, mature but still playful, buoyant and fun take on the material, and was updated in a really interesting way."

Israelite, who used to watch Power Rangers when he was growing up in South African, also admitted he'd lobbied for the job of directing the film. "I put a really big presentation together, because I needed to win the job. There were a lot of guys going out for it and saw the potential in it, so I put a really big presentation together and was lucky enough to get the job," he recalled. As for the status of the film, he said that "we're in sort of a soft pre-production right now, doing a lot of design work and reimagining the world. It's really cool and exciting."

He wouldn't be drawn on how it would tie into the continuity of the TV show, but did confirm that casting news would follow in the next couple of months. He also said that the tone of the film "needs to be completely playful," noting that "like Project Almanac, I hope it's going to feel very grounded at the same time."

The full interview with Dean Israelite is here.