Writer, producer, and soon-to-be-director Roberto Orci continues to clear off his plate ahead of production on the third installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise, with his role as producer on the upcoming Power Rangers reboot becoming the latest project to slip off his to-do list.
According to Deadline, Orci’s commitment to make his directorial debut on the next Star Trek movie has created a scheduling conflict with his plan to serve as producer on Power Rangers, a film announced in May 2014 that’s intended to revive the popular ’90s franchise on the big screen. Power Rangers studios Lionsgate and Haim Saban still plan to release the film July 22, 2016, despite Orci’s departure.
Back in July 2014, Orci departed Sony’s revamped Amazing Spider-Man franchise after co-writing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with his longtime collaborator, Alex Kurtzman. The pair parted ways earlier this year, with each going solo on separate big-screen franchises. Kurtzman continues to be heavily involved in both The Amazing Spider-Man universe and Universal’s upcoming series of films based on the classic Universal Monsters. Orci has shifted into warp speed to push ahead with the follow-up to Star Trek Into Darkness.
X-Men: First Class and Thor screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are working on the script for Power Rangers, which is described as a modern reinvention of the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” adventures that follow a group of high-school students who are gifted with powerful extraterrestrial abilities in order to save the world.