It's been more than 20 years since the original "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" debuted on television screens all over the world, and as there's a new love rediscovered for all things 1990s, now the franchise's set for a reboot with the "Power Rangers" movie that will be out in theaters by 2017.
Of course, this would be the second-ever "Power Rangers" movie after cult favorite 1995 film "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" that's now nearly old enough to drink, and it has now been announced that the people behind the upcoming project, namely Lionsgate, is taking a fairly big risk for the reboot: casting completely unknown actors to play the team of superheroes.
According to an exclusive story by Variety, there are already a few short-listed actors for some of the main male roles of the "Power Rangers" movie, namely: Mitchell Hope (who plays King Ben in Disney Channel's "The Descendants"), KJ Apa ("Shortland Street") and Austin Butler (from "The Shannara Chronicles") for Jason/Red Ranger - while Brian Marc, Daniel Zovatto and Ross Butler are auditioning to play Zack/Black Ranger.
In the meantime, Cinema Blend reports that there are only two actresses lined up for the main female role of Pink Ranger Kimberly in the upcoming "Power Rangers" movie, namely Naomi Scott (most recently Matt Damon's co-star in Ridley Scott's "The Martian"), and Stephanie Scott (from "Insidious 3").
It seems like there are still no candidates to play the remaining Rangers in the upcoming film, which is to say characters Yellow Ranger Trini, Blue Ranger Billy or Green/White Ranger Tommy.
According to Blastr, Lionsgate's idea for the film is to cast young unknown actors in the hero roles and then beef up production by hiring a big name to play the villain, though it's still unknown which one it will be.
The screenplay for the "Power Rangers" movie is currently being written by Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, the team who previously penned "Thor."
