New ‘Power Rangers’ Movie Loses Roberto Orci Due To ‘Star Trek’ Commitments

Rebooting a popular franchise is no easy feat. Hollywood is littered with the corpses of terrible reboots, and audiences are often even more brutal than most critics when it comes to how their childhood is reinterpreted. Needless to say, when the Power Rangers reboot was announced, more than a few fans were concerned.

It seemed as though the Power Rangers movie was on the right track, with Roberto Orci (Writer for Star Trek and Transformers films) signing on as executive producer of the film, and Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (writers of X-Men: First Class and Thor) signing on as the writers of the flick. Deadline, however, is now reporting the first casualty in Power Rangers’ development in the form of Roberto Orci stepping down as executive producer.

“Roberto Orci has dropped out of Power Rangers because his Star Trek 3 directing obligation has created a scheduling conflict. He’ll no longer be exec producer of the film. It doesn’t change Lionsgate and Haim Saban’s intention to release Power Rangers worldwide on July 22, 2016. Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, who penned the screenplays for X-Men: First Class and Thor, will continue to write the script.”

As disheartening as this news is, it’s understandable, as Star Trek 3 marks Roberto Orci’s directorial debut, and there is no doubt he’d prefer to keep his focus so as not to disappoint the Star Trek fans, who have come to expect a certain level of quality from the franchise.

So where does that leave Power Rangers fans? The news is definitely disappointing, as Orci has had a wealth of success and experience in both establishing and rebooting blockbuster franchises, though it is worth pointing out that Orci’s track record hasn’t exactly been spotless (The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and some of the Transformers films have left some fans and critics unfulfilled).

It is also worth noting that the real pressure at this stage is really screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, regardless of who is actually sitting in the executive producer chair (though a helpful hand doesn’t hurt). While the task is daunting, those two, like Orci, are no novices to the business, and are capable of producing content that will please both fans and mainstream audiences worldwide (consider how big of a train wreck the original Thor could have been).

Any thoughts on Power Rangers losing its executive producer? How much does this affect your opinion on how the film will turn out? Let us know in the comments below!