Chronicle Screenwriter May Have Already Written The Power Rangers Reboot

By Nick Venable | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

chronicleIf you’re trying to make a movie about teens who discover they have powers all of a sudden, there’s no steadfast rule that you should hire a screenwriter with experience in the matter. But it also couldn’t hurt, and the upcoming feature reboot of Haim Saban’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers is going to need all the non-hurt it can get. But what if that screenwriter happens to be Max Landis, who penned the surprise 2012 hit found-footage thriller Chronicle?

That’s the unconfirmed rumor being tossed around by the entertainment site SchmoesKnow, whose source not only says that Landis is behind the script, but that he’s already written the first draft and turned it into producers Saban, Jim Miller, and Alison Shearmur. That would be pretty extraordinary, considering the film was only officially revealed last week. Sure, it would technically be wasting one’s time to take longer than two weeks on a Power Rangers script, but it’s absolutely possible that the producers got with Landis on the down low ahead of time, and forced him at gunpoint to pen this thing.

The son of filmmaking icon John Landis, the man behind The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, Max’s only produced feature script was Chronicle, though he has a slew of projects currently in differing states of production. There’s his directorial debut, the comedy Me Him Her, as well as the Jesse Eisenberg/Kristen Stewart stoner action comedy American Ultra, Daniel Radcliffe’s take on Frankenstein, Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell’s rom-com Mr. Right, a Lovecraftian version of Harry Houdini’s life, and more. So he’s obviously got a ton of ideas in his often outspoken head, but I can’t assume this is the best way he could spend his time. (That said, if someone asked me if I wanted to write the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers movie, I’d do it in a flash.)

Here’s a look at Landis’ short film The Death and Return of Superman.

The idea behind the reboot is to give an all new set of teenagers the morphin’ powers (which can be described as mighty) that turn them into punching-and-kicking warriors who also have the ability to pilot giant robots. You might have heard that we like those here at GFR. And that’s usually right, but in the case of the Power Rangers, we’re a little beyond the target demographic.

power rangers
“You guys should really leave the air conditioner on in here when you leave.”

So we’re left sitting on our thumbs awaiting official confirmation that Landis either is or isn’t attached. How would you guys feel about Landis taking over the ridiculous Power Rangers mythology?