A series of new Power Rangers projects are currently in development at Netflix thanks to an ongoing partnership with the Canadian entertainment company Entertainment One, which was acquired by Hasbro in 2020.The End of the F***ing World creator Jonathan Entwistle confirmed the news on Twitter by reposting an interview with eOne President of Global Television Michael Lombardo. In the caption, he wrote, "I guess the cat's out of the bag! The new Power Rangers universe is coming to Netflix."
"Since we set up Power Rangers with Jonathan, we pitched really a whole-world approach," Lombardo revealed in his conversation with Deadline. "It's not just one show, it is shows followed by films, some kids' programming. We have found a great writing partner for him, they are off. Knock on wood, Netflix is excited, we're excited, we hope to have some news soon." Lombardo also revealed Netflix is developing new projects related to the Hasbro-owned Dungeons & Dragons and Monopoly games.
Based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise Super Sentai, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers premiered in August 1993 as the first installment in the Power Rangers universe. In addition to inspiring a line of action figures and other toys, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers spawned multiple spinoff series, movies and comic books. As of 2021, the Power Rangers universe consists of 28 television seasons of 21 different themed series, 12 comic series and three theatrical films released in 1995, 1997, and 2017.
The 2017 film is known as Saban's Power Rangers and was directed by Dean Israelite. It stars Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger, Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger, Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, R.J. Cyler as the Blue Ranger, Becky G as the Yellow Ranger, Bryan Cranston as Zordon and Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa. The film received mixed reviews and didn't fare well at the box office, with Israelite blaming lackluster returns in part on the fact the Power Rangers was given a PG-13 rating.
"We did a lot of preview screenings, and to me, it felt like a 7-year-old might be scared, but in a good way," the director said at the time. "They liked that they were scared of Rita, but they still came out of the movie enjoying it, they liked what was going on. I think we really tread that line well, so it was disappointing that parents didn't know that they could take their kids to it."
It was first announced that the Power Rangers universe would be getting a Netflix reboot in October 2020, when Lombardo and eOne Film President Nick Meyer said in a statement, "Jonathan has an incredible creative vision for this iconic and hugely successful franchise, and is hands down the right architect to join us as we reimagine the television and film worlds of this property."
Entwistle was previously connected to a Power Ranger feature film announced by Paramount Pictures in 2019, which involved "a time-travel element that brings the kids to the 1990s, and in Back to the Future fashion, they have to find a way to get back to their present." It's unclear if that film is now part of the Netflix rollout and when the first Power Rangers project will premiere on the streaming platform.