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Disney+ Passes on Live-Action Power Rangers Series

High production costs plus unfavorable licensing economics for a franchise owned by Hasbro made the series uneconomical for Disney+.

Overview

  • Multiple outlets reported Friday that Disney+ will not move the live-action Power Rangers project out of development.
  • Sources say the decision was driven by the high cost of staging Zords, monsters and suit-based visual effects and the poor return the streamer would see when it does not own the underlying IP.
  • The series had been developed with Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz and 20th Television, a package that was set up about a year-and-a-half ago.
  • Hasbro owns the Power Rangers brand and previous revival attempts include a 2017 theatrical reboot that underperformed and an earlier Netflix development that stalled.
  • The pass leaves Hasbro to seek new partners or formats for a live-action return and underscores a wider streamer reluctance to fund effects-heavy series on third-party IP.