Someone at Saban must’ve really liked PROJECT ALMANAC, because they just scooped up its director.
Dean Israelite is in talks to direct the POWER RANGERS flick that Saban and Lionsgate are cooking up. It’s being looked at as a big-budget tentpole, and a reboot from the current series, POWER RANGERS DINO CHARGE.
Israelite obviously worked with young actors on ALMANAC, so grouping some teens together and getting some decent performances out of them shouldn’t be too much of a problem for him. Also, that film showed he can render lofty sci-fi ideas into a coherent, realistic narrative, which will probably be a huge factor in launching this reboot.
The question is whether he can depict the martial arts and Zord battles that will be integral to any incarnation of POWER RANGERS. I, and I’m sure many of you, would’ve preferred they went with UNDISPUTED II/NINJA director (and former POWER RANGERS fight choreographer) Isaac Florentine, but it’s not a surprise they’re prioritizing the teen interplay and audience reliability over the action/sci-fi angle.
Still, if he can stretch a budget and get a good cast together, maybe we’ll have a POWER RANGERS flick that is at least on the same playing field as this super-controversial (and highly badass) “fan” short:
POWER/RANGERS (UNAUTHORIZED NSFW BOOTLEG) from Joseph Kahn on Vimeo.
Any PROJECT ALMANAC fans out there really stoked about this hire?
