The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2017
Lionsgate signed the cast to four-picture deals for a Power Rangers series that never came
The 2017 reboot cost $100M and grossed $142M, an estimated $74M loss, and the planned five-to-seven-film franchise never got a second entry.
Lionsgate · Saban · 2017-03-24
What happened
Lionsgate and Saban committed to a Power Rangers reboot with explicit ambitions for a long-running franchise, with CEO Jon Feltheimer publicly floating five to seven sequels and the young cast signed to four-picture deals before the first film had even opened.
The studio budgeted around $100 million for the first film, betting a modernized tone and darker visual style would win over both nostalgic adults and a new generation of fans of the 1990s franchise.
The film opened to a muted reception and closed with $142 million worldwide, an estimated $74 million loss once the standard 2.5x break-even multiple for a film this size is applied. The planned sequels never entered production, and Saban later sold the franchise rights to Hasbro.
Why it happened
- The studio committed to a multi-picture franchise plan and signed the cast to it before the first film proved it could work commercially.
- The budget assumed a nostalgia-driven built-in audience that the finished film's tone didn't fully deliver to.
- Nobody scaled back the franchise ambitions once early tracking suggested the opening would fall short.
- The four-picture cast commitments became a sunk cost the studio had to walk away from once the first film underperformed.
The lesson
Signing the cast to a multi-picture deal before the first film opens turns a disappointing opening weekend into a franchise-ending one.
Aftermath
Saban sold the Power Rangers franchise rights to Hasbro, which pursued a different, smaller-scale media strategy for the property rather than attempting another theatrical reboot.
Sources
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