After putting a found-footage spin on the time-travel genre in this spring’s Project Almanac, Dean Israelite is angling to take on a classic kids franchise for his next gig, with news that Lionsgate is negotiating for the helmer to tackle its Power Rangers reboot.
TheWrap reports that Israelite has been pursued by multiple studios following the success of Project Almanac, in which he proved he could draw great drama and suspense out of a young cast on a limited budget, but he’s turned them all down while waiting for the right project. Given his stated love for the Power Rangers franchise, it’s clear that Israelite believes he has found it.
Should the director ink a deal, he’ll be working from a script by X-Men: First Class scribes Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz. Lionsgate hopes the new film will launch a franchise, so it has put a priority on finding a creative team that can offer a fresh, new voice.
Power Rangers was originally broadcast as TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993, as the story of a group of high school kids who gain superpowers that they use to fight forces of evil. Since then, it has been in continuous production under different names and with different casts, including Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Power Rangers Dino Thunder and the current Power Rangers Dino Charge.
The new pic will be the third Power Rangers movie to hit the big screen, following 1995’s hit Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and the far less successful Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
It’s expected that Israelite will film this project before taking on MGM’s WarGames remake, which is currently eyeing Ansel Elgort and Tye Sheridan for the lead role.
Lionsgate has set Power Rangers as a summer tentpole, scheduling it for July 22nd, 2016.
