POWER RANGERS Star Dacre Montgomery Says There Was a 4-Film Plan and Explains Why It All Fell Apart
Back in 2017, Power Rangers hit theaters with big franchise ambitions and a cast ready to carry it forward for years. Now, nearly a decade later, Dacre Montgomery is opening up about what was supposed to happen next and why fans never got those follow-ups.
The film was designed to kick off something much bigger. According to Montgomery, Lionsgate had already mapped out a multi-film plan before the first movie even premiered. Unfortunately, things didn’t play out the way the studio hoped.
The reboot brought together a mix of rising stars and familiar faces, with Montgomery leading as Jason, the Red Ranger, alongside Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, and Ludi Lin.
Supporting roles included heavy hitters like Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston, and Elizabeth Banks. On paper, it had all the ingredients to launch a long-running series.
But while Power Rangers had a loyal fanbase and brand recognition, the movie struggled to connect in a big way. It pulled in $142.5 million worldwide against a budget north of $100 million, and the response from audiences and critics landed somewhere in the middle. That wasn’t enough to justify the larger plan.
Montgomery recently reflected on the experience, and it’s clear the project meant a lot to him, especially as his first major role:
"It was my first job. It was literally the most formative period of my life. Like after wanting to be an actor for 10 years and not getting hired, and then getting that film, and yeah, it was a four-picture deal with Lionsgate. Similar sort of structure to what they did with Hunger Games. The same studio at the same time."
The idea was to build a cinematic universe with room to grow, much like Lionsgate had done with The Hunger Games. The groundwork was there, and the cast was ready to stick around.
"Had a lot of ambitions. It had a lot of creative expansion of the franchise, of the IP. I had the best time with those cast. You know we’ve spoken about it before.
“They’re all amazing, including RJ. It was going to be a whole big thing, but what can you do, right? We’re talking about money, and big business, and it didn’t recoup or make enough on the investment that the studio had made to continue making more."
That financial reality shut everything down. Despite sequel teases that hinted at bigger threats like Lord Zedd and a new Green Ranger, the story stopped before it really got going. The twist involving Rita Repulsa and the Green Ranger set up an interesting direction, but audiences never got to see it unfold.
Montgomery hasn’t lost his appreciation for the franchise, though. He also touched on the series’ future, which continues to evolve behind the scenes:
“I hear they’re rebooting it again. I think Saban might have sold the IP off. I’m excited for the future of that. Power Rangers means a great deal to a lot of people. Whoever steps into those shoes, I know that they’ll be great, and I had the best time."
Since then, the franchise has gone through multiple reinventions. A reboot was previously in development at Netflix with Jonathan Entwistle and Jenny Klein helming the project, but that version didn’t move forward. Now, the brand is shifting again, this time heading to Disney+ with Percy Jackson and the Olympians creatives Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz guiding the next attempt.
It’s easy to see where things didn’t quite click. The 2017 film leaned heavily into a grounded, superhero origin story style that didn’t fully capture the colorful, over-the-top charm that made the original series stand out. Instead of feeling like something fresh, it ended up sitting too close to other franchise formulas.
Still, it’s interesting to think there was once a full four-movie arc planned that never got off the ground.