Sci-Fi Storm

Saban Brands wants to take it’s 20-year-old Power Rangers franchise to the next level – as a series of feature films – and Lionsgate is going to help them do it.

The companies announced today they are teaming up to produce a feature film based on the long running and still popular martial arts/robots vs. alien monster (and often cheesy) franchise, with the hopes of many more.

This would not be the first feature film, though – there were two previous features. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie was released in 1995 midway through the original series’ run when it seemed the initial fascination of American face actors intercut with Japanese action footage from Super Sentai started to wane. Then in 1997, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie kicked off the third series, Power Rangers Turbo. In total, 17 different series were produced along with the two movies in 20 years.

Surprised? Lionsgate will be splitting the third book in Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy into two films. Lionsgate is no stranger to stretching out book-based finales – it did so with the Twilight saga’s Breaking Dawn and then again with the upcoming Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Allegiant Part 1 will keep the originally slated date of March 18th, 2016, with the conclusion on March 24, 2017.

The second installment, Insurgent, is scheduled for release on March 20, 2015.