Nostalgia reigned again at the box office this weekend, as Lionsgate’s “Power Rangers” beat box office analyst expectations thanks to a combination of family and millennial audiences, bringing in an opening bow of $40.5 million to finish second and highest among all new releases.
The question now, though, is whether the $105 million reboot of the hit kids’ action TV series can earn enough at the box office to morph into a franchise. The film sets the stage for a potential sequel with a post-credits sequence teasing the coming of one of the TV series’ most famous characters, Tommy Oliver, a.k.a. the Green Ranger.
Usually, a big-budget film like “Rangers” needs to make at least $400 million worldwide for a studio to greenlight a sequel, but box office analysts tell TheWrap that they believe that Lionsgate might accept a global cume slightly below that mark if the film can at least make $100 million domestically, as the studio does not have a big blockbuster family franchise currently running aside from the “Divergent” series, which struggled at the box office last year and only has one film to go.
But to do that, “Power Rangers” will need to keep its second week drop-off to below 50 percent, which means holding on to the demographics that helped give the film to its good start. David Spitz, Lionsgate’s domestic theatrical distribution president, told TheWrap that the studio selected a late March release to capitalize on the spring break season for college-age moviegoers who watched “Power Rangers” growing up. He also noted that Lionsgate had enjoyed great success in this release slot in years past, most notably in 2012 with “The Hunger Games.”
This allowed “Rangers” to get strong traction with the 18-35 demographic as well as with family audiences, but this weekend sees two new releases that could take a bite out of both groups. On the family side, there’s DreamWorks Animation’s “The Boss Baby,” while on the adult-action side, there’s Paramount’s “Ghost in The Shell.” The presence of both films at theaters could divide audience attention and make it difficult for “Power Rangers” to get a strong holdover. Trackers have “Boss Baby” making between $30-33 million and “Ghost in the Shell” making around $25 million.
But even if “Rangers” suffers a tough domestic drop-off, it could still find success overseas. The film made $18.7 million from 32 markets including the U.K. and Germany, but has several major markets still to come. The film will open in two weeks in 10 more European countries, including France, Belgium, Spain and Italy. It will be released in South Korea on April 20, and on July 15, it will be released in Japan, home of the “Super Sentai” series that “Power Rangers” is based on.
“Power Rangers” could also find a strong opening in China, where a release date has not yet been set. Chinese moviegoers have been very receptive to movies with the sort of giant robots and monster fight scenes that “Power Rangers” has built its name on for the past quarter-century. This past weekend, “Kong: Skull Island” got the second-highest opening weekend of 2017 in China with a $72 million bow; and in 2013, “Pacific Rim” made just short of $112 million in its Chinese run.
With “Power Rangers” just getting started in Asia, there’s still plenty of opportunities for it to join the likes of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Transformers” in the ranks of campy Saturday morning TV classics that used nostalgia to make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. If it can pull that off, the franchise will have plenty of story arcs from the original series it can mine for sequel material, particularly with the arrival of the Green Ranger, whose introduction in a five-part miniseries during the TV show’s first season became extremely popular with hardcore fans.
'Power Rangers': Where Are the Original Mighty Morphin Actors Now? (Photos)
After 24 years on the air, "Power Rangers" is going back to its roots with a new movie that puts a new spin on the original team of "teenagers with attitude' from Angel Grove. But what happened to the original team that excited little kids and sent action figures flying off the shelves back in 1993? Here's where the original Rangers, allies and villains are now.
AUSTIN ST. JOHN (Red Ranger): The Taekwondo and judo black belt who played team leader Jason Scott Lee went on to work as an overseas paramedic, according to his Facebook profile. After leaving "Power Rangers" midway through Season 2 due to a contract dispute, he returned to the series in "Power Rangers Zeo" and in "Forever Red," a 10th anniversary special that brought together all the Red Rangers from the series.
THUY TRANG (Yellow Ranger): The actress who played California teen Trini Kawn died in a car accident in 2001. But before that, she starred in two movies outside of the "Power Rangers" universe, 1996 comedy "Spy Hard" and 1996 action film "The Crow: City of Angels."
DAVID YOST (Blue Ranger): Yost appeared in over 200 episodes of "Power Rangers" as brainiac Billy Cranston before leaving in 1996. In a 2010 interview, he revealed his departure was due to harassment from the production crew over his homosexuality. He's recently worked as a reality TV producer on shows like "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and is slated to appear in "The Order," a short action film starring various "Power Rangers" alumni including Austin St. John and Walter Emanuel Jones
WALTER JONES (Black Ranger): This 43-year-old actor played Zack Taylor for one-and-a-half seasons before leaving with Trang and St. John. He had a cameo role in later "Power Rangers" seasons as some of the monsters the Rangers fought. He has dozens of voice, film and TV guest roles to his name, including a bit role in "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping."
AMY JO JOHNSON (Pink Ranger): The 43-year-old actress who played Kimberly Hart on the show's first three seasons went on to several more lead TV roles on shows like "Felicity," "The Division," and "Flashpoint." Now a married mom, she has a cameo in the new "Power Rangers" movie as a citizen in Angel Grove.
JASON DAVID FRANK (Green/White Ranger): After joining "Power Rangers" midway through the first season as Tommy Oliver, Frank remained on the show until midway through its fifth season, "Power Rangers Turbo." In 2004, he played Tommy again in "Power Rangers Dino Thunder" and guest starred in a 2014 episode of the series for its 20th anniversary. Outside of "Power Rangers," he started a career as a karate instructor and MMA fighter, winning four amateur bouts and one pro bout.
PAUL SCHRIER AND JASON NARVY (Bulk and Skull): The comic relief duo stayed on "Power Rangers" longer than anyone else on the original cast, appearing in the first six seasons. Schrier played Bulk in two more seasons in 1999 and 2011, with Narvy having guest appearances as Skull in both. Both actors remain friends to this day and have appeared at "Power Rangers" fan conventions, while Schrier has worked as a voice actor and director in animation.
ROBERT L. MANAHAN (Zordon): Manahan became the voice of the Rangers' mentor midway through the first season and remained in the role until Zordon's final appearance on the show in 1998. Manahan died in 2000 of a heart aneurysm, with an episode of "Power Rangers" dedicated to his memory.
RICHARD WOOD (Alpha 5): The voice actor behind Zordon's panicky robot assistant went on to enjoy a long and prosperous career as a voice actor on kids' cartoons, including lead roles in "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" and "Invader Zim." He also played several monsters du jour on later seasons of "Power Rangers."
BARBARA GOODSON (Rita Repulsa): While "Power Rangers" used footage from the Japanese "Sentai" series for Rita, her voice was dubbed by Goodson, who has over 300 voice acting roles in animated movies, TV series, and video games, including "Kiki's Delivery Service," "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," and "Naruto."
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With ”Power Rangers“ getting a movie reboot, we look back to see what has happened to the original team
After 24 years on the air, "Power Rangers" is going back to its roots with a new movie that puts a new spin on the original team of "teenagers with attitude' from Angel Grove. But what happened to the original team that excited little kids and sent action figures flying off the shelves back in 1993? Here's where the original Rangers, allies and villains are now.