Back in 2017, Hasbro acquired the Power Rangers IP from Saban Brands in a half-billion dollar deal, with the toy giant subsequently tapping The End of the F***ing World creator Jonathan Entwistle to develop a feature film reboot of the iconic franchise in partnership with Paramount Pictures, home of the Transformers and G.I. Joe movies.
Fast forward a couple of years and with Hasbro adding Entertainment One to its portfolio, the company opted to pull the plug on the Paramount project but retain Entwistle to oversee a new shared Power Rangers universe of TV series and movies, which Deadline is reporting has now found a home at Netflix.
“Since we set up Power Rangers with Jonathan, we pitched really a whole-world approach,” states EOne’s President of Global Television Michael Lombardo, who previously served as President of Programming at HBO. “It’s not just one show, it is shows followed by films, some kids’ programming. We have found a great writing partner for him, they are off. Knock on wood, Netflix is excited, we’re excited, we hope to have some news soon.”
In addition to its Power Rangers plans at Netflix, EOne is also developing a number of other Hasbro-related projects, including a similar shared universe based upon Dungeons & Dragons, a Clue animated series, Magic: The Gathering and Risk scripted series, and Monopoly, Mouse Trap and Guess Who? gameshows.