A second morphing time might not be in the offing. Despite boasting a diverse cast and teasing the return of the Green Ranger in its post-credits scene, the 2017 reboot of "Power Rangers" did not generate enough buzz from critics and failed to become a box-office hit.
There has been a nostalgic trend that has swept movies and television and just about everything is being rebooted. Haim Saban hopped on the bandwagon and rebooted the "Power Rangers," which was shown early this year.
But after the breakeven earnings of the film, rumors have been swirling that the future of the franchise may have been nipped in the bud.
MovieWeb reports that Saban, who owns the rights to the franchise, has opted not to renew the trademark for "Power Rangers." It was specifically made for the film, which was planned to have more sequels. But the media rep for Saban came out to deny the claims about the trademark not being renewed and said in a statement: "Power Rangers continues to own and renew hundreds of trademark registrations worldwide, including for the 2017 movie logo. The franchise remains as strong and enthusiastic about its future as ever."
The future of the movie franchise has been discussed since "Power Rangers" came out. The response of critics and mediocre ticket sales might have placed the entire franchise in jeopardy before it could even take off.
Despite the below average box-office performance of "Power Rangers," the franchise was still able to earn some big bucks. After it was shown in theaters, there was a spike in the merchandise sale of the "Power Rangers" brand.
Selling merchandise is one of the biggest methods for movie franchises to make money, and has shaped how movies will market their characters including their villains. These sales can either give hope to fans as a sign that there's more to come or keep the merchandise as memorabilia of the film — if and when the franchise ends.
