‘Power Rangers’ Movie Eyes ‘Project Almanac’ Director

Power Rangers feels like such a strange property to reboot for the big screen, but then again, the idea of reviving Transformers as a live-action film franchise also seemed pretty weird at the time (and still kind of does). Last we heard, Roberto Orci is producing the new Power Rangers movie, which has been seeking a director for some time. They may have just found one in Project Almanac director Dean Israelite.

After some notable delays, Israelite’s Project Almanac finally arrived in theaters early this year, decently delivering on its found footage time travel premise. According to The Wrap, Israelite’s next project will likely be Power Rangers. The director is reportedly a big fan of the franchise, and with an ambitious gamble like this one, it’s in the studio’s best interest to hire someone who is not only competent, but who also loves the property and has a distinct vision for it.

Joseph Kahn had a pretty distinct vision with his dark and gritty (and divisive) Power/Rangers short film, but that’s definitely not what Lionsgate is aiming for with the new film, and Kahn is far from interested in taking the job.

The new Power Rangers film has a screenplay from Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, and although plot specifics are currently unknown, it’s fair to assume that the film will still follow a group of high school kids who are gifted strong martial arts abilities and the power to transform into superheroes who use large robotic vehicles and can assemble themselves into one giant unit, similar to Transformers and Voltron.

Power Rangers is targeting a 2016 release date, which means we’ll start hearing more about the film’s plot and casting relatively soon.