The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is getting a movie – and Roberto Orci was announced last week as the film’s executive producer. And now, a week later, he’s ready to talk, and did so with IGN’s Eric Goldman. We’ve taken the liberty of sharing the interview with you here!
IGN: How did you get involved in Power Rangers?Orci: I happen to know Erik Feig, because we had some fun times doing Ender’s Game and Now You See Me. He’s at Lionsgate and he had mentioned that they were pursuing this property at Lionsgate and we just, because we’re friends, got to talking about it and he sort of roped me in – or I roped him in! I’m not sure which is which!
IGN: How do you approach the tone on something like this? It obviously has a perception going in, but it’s also going to be pushed to a wider audience besides the pre-existing fans.Orci: Part of it is seeing what we remember of it; our generation and what our memories of it are. Part of it is seeing the fans of it today. There are a lot of kids that love it today, and so it’s about doing your homework. You talk to everybody who loves it and you find out why they love it and then you figure, what is the appropriate translation of that, tonally, to now? We have the added benefit of a movie is going to be two hours, or whatever it is, so it’s gotta have an arc and a reality to it that maybe you don’t have a chance to do all the time. That’s going to be the exciting part.
IGN: Presumably it’s not tied to the 21-year of history of the show. Are you going to use the same characters from the original series?Orci: One of the first things we did was learn and read… They have 600 pages of research that they have on their stuff. We read through the synopsis of everything they did and we are actually taking into account quite a bit of the canon in a real way. We’re not just a leave it behind reboot. [Haim] Saban cares very much about that. This is something that he created. I had to go to his house, personally, to tell him, “Listen, I’m your man. Miller and Stenz, these are your guys. I promise you I won’t ruin your franchise.” And he said, “It’s very important to me, because kids around the world know what the Power Rangers are. So you can’t just come in here and walk all over it. It better be consistent with what I’ve been doing.” And I said, “Yes sir!”
IGN: Oh, so then does it does exist within the continuity of the TV show?Orci: It’s got a continuity within the world. I can’t tell you what, but it does have a continuity.
IGN: As a Fringe fan, hearing Miller and Stenz were working with you on this, it’s fun to have you together again on such a different project.Orci: It’s great. I’ve been working with them for years, so when I found out they were available, I called Erik Feig and said, “Hey, these guys might want to come on. What do you think of the three of us…?” He was like, “Come on! Let’s do it!”
IGN: Think we might hear anything about a director in the not too distant future?Orci: I’m sure they’d like one right away! We’ve got to give them a script first.
IGN: Lastly, I’m sure you know you’re going to be getting this question… Any possibility for cameos or appearances by original cast members?Orci: Of course. That’s something we want to rely on the Saban group to tell us. They have a lot of internal knowledge of their franchise and we’re just learning now. We’ve seen it only as fans, but they actually know it inside and out, so I’d love to know what fans want to see.
Again, special thanks to IGN for this interview that, obviously, has answered some questions for Power Rangers fans. You check out the original article by IGN clicking here. So what do you think Power Rangers fans? Excited yet? Sound off!
