Last Monday night, producer Andi Shankar and director Joseph Kahn screened a visceral, PTSD-informed Power Rangers bootleg film at the tiny Wilshire Screening Room in Beverly Hills. We caught Power/Rangers on the web early Tuesday morning when it had around 2,000 views. As of now, the bootleg film has been viewed more than 18 million times—despite being taken down for a day, when Saban threatened legal action over copyright infringement. But Shankar put a disclaimer in front of the short film, and it's back to kicking ass.
If you haven't seen it, prepare to have your 90s childhood dreams reshaped and smashed to bits, at the bottom of the page. [waiting, preparing lunch, calling a friend] Pretty slick, right? Obviously way more special effects, locations, and—depending on how you feel about Dawson's Creek's James Van Der Beek—talent than your usual YouTube fan film. And now, Shankar has uploaded a behind the scenes video as well. There are no interviews, but it's a fun glimpse.
Now, the next news that we hope to hear from this team is that Lionsgate is dropping their current PG-13 version and approaching Shankar and Kahn for an R-rated Power Rangers. But even with 18 million views and counting, that ain't bloody likely.
Here's the original NSFW Power/Rangers:
And an interview with Shankar about making the short film.
