The Power Rangers' greatest foe? Movie theaters.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie kicked off a decades-long struggle for the franchise in cinemas.
Three feature films based on Power Rangers have been released worldwide. All three were disappointments at the box office. Yes, even Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, which 30 years ago today debuted in 2,409 theaters across America.
Seeing as fandoms seemingly weren’t as obsessed with ticket receipts in 1995 as they are in 2025, and that most people in the Power Rangers fandom at that time were in elementary school, you might be surprised to learn that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie didn’t just underwhelm — it was kind of a bomb signaling the end of a phenomenon.
The film’s reported budget, $15 million, likely crept closer to $20 million by the end of a shaky production whose filming schedule ballooned in part due to a mid-stream casting change. On paper, MMPR:TM made back that money by the end of its nine-week domestic stay ($38.1 million), but that doesn’t account for a marketing budget that, given its breadth and depth1, likely far exceeded the cost of the film itself. And none of that includes the purported multi-million amount that 20th Century Fox2 paid for the rights to make the film or the hundreds of thousands that may have been spent to license music for a soundtrack that, to this day, remains a banger.
Worldwide, MMPR:TM made $66.4 million, or $140.1 million adjusted for inflation. After a healthy VHS release and three decades worth of financial exploitation3, it’s safe to assume that the Power Rangers’ first foray at the multiplex ultimately was profitable. But it’s somewhat stunning that the hottest kids property of the mid-90s was a bona fide flop out of the gate.
MMPR:TM opened fourth with in its opening week, a stretch that included the Independence Day holiday. It was not the highest grossing film that week to feature scenes in space; fellow opener Apollo 13 claimed the top spot that week and the next three after. It was neither the week’s best-performing kids film (Pocahontas, which brought home $28.6 million in its second week of wide release but fourth overall) nor top superhero grosser (Batman Forever, $25.5 million in week three). MMPR:TM generated $19.5 million, meaning more than half of its domestic total came in its first seven days of release. (For comparison: Universal kids flick Casper debuted at No. 1 a month earlier with $22 million and legged out $100 million domestically; its budget was also more than three times that of MMPR:TM, for what that’s worth).
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie’s box-office total ranks 46th among films released in 1995 and was 20th Century Fox’s sixth highest grosser of the year behind Die Hard: With a Vengeance and four flicks that would stand no chance of getting released theatrically in 2025 (Nine Months, Waiting to Exhale, A Walk in the Clouds and French Kiss). It shared cinemas with four of the year’s top-10 grossers (No. 2 Batman Forever, No. 3 Apollo 13, No. 4 Pocahontas and No. 8 Casper) and would be outgrossed by a number of other family films that released later in the year (No. 1 Toy Story, No. 9 Jumanji, No. 29 Babe).
An underwhelming legacy
Like many a flop, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie curried cult status over the years. Unlike many a flop, it had the advantage of a baked-in fanbase that grew up and continued to support other iterations of the property, including a feature film two decades later that … also bombed.
The worldwide take of Power Rangers (2017), $142.3 million, was more than twice that of the original flick, but beyond that surface-level figure it was an even bigger disappointment. Its budget was reported at $100 million, more than three times that of MMPR:TM (adjusted for inflation), and its marketing spend presumably brought the total break-even figure to a minimum of $250 million (likely more). The film opened respectably ($40.3 million) but fell like a rock from there. Even when accounting for less than a decade of inflation, the 2017 film’s adjusted gross of $186.2 million isn’t that much higher than that of the 1995 film.
The movies couldn’t be further apart in terms of their reason for being. The former is a kid-minded cash grab that makes the TV show’s paper-thin heroes look like fully formed characters. The latter is a reimagined coming-of-age drama disguised as a superhero blockbuster and aimed at the kids who grew up loving the cash-grab attempt. Their main commonality — it’s Power Rangers — may very well be the biggest reason why they failed to sustain at the box office. In 1995, “it’s Power Rangers” meant you could watch it at home, likely for free on over-the-air broadcast. In 2017, “it’s Power Rangers” meant it probably wasn’t something you wanted to take seriously unless you were a dedicated fan.
It's only shocking that Power Rangers (2017) has garnered its own cult-ish status because it failed to gain traction in theaters; unlike Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, it has actual characters with, gasp, motivations, as well as themes that extend beyond “good vs. evil.” But it’s also no surprise that the original film continues to be heralded among fans and “normies” alike — it’s hard to beat an original, even when that original has a villain as fucking awesome as Paul Freeman’s Ivan Ooze.
Why does any of this matter?
Fans care a lot about box-office figures these days, wearing them as badges of honors or shame, depending on *how high number go up*.
Studios care too, and the track record of Power Rangers movies — I haven’t even touched on Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, nor will I here — suggests that the franchise should never see cinemas again. But it’s probably going to, because that’s how time and intellectual property work. It only takes one excited executive to look at a 30-plus year-old successful TV franchise and convince themselves that their vision is the one that can finally lead it to greater heights.
Whether Power Rangers will ever again aspire for those heights is irrelevant to whether it should. I tend to be of the mind that the 2017 movie might have had more cultural “pop” had it been a 10-episode miniseries rather than a two-hour movie. Some of the oft-cited “issues” with that movie might be more digestible throughout a lengthy binge rather than a two-hour dalliance.
On the flipside, I think the 1995 film would’ve been at least slightly more successful if Austin St. John, Walter Jones and Thuy Trang — the three actors most fans knew as the Red, Black and Yellow Rangers in early 1995 — had still been part of the TV cast rather than three newbies. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers the TV show, in the span of less than 18 months, took the world by storm and then sent three of its most recognizable faces packing over a pay dispute. A lot of things conspired to cut the bloom off MMPR’s monster rose, but it’s hard not to think that Haim Saban might have been the most significant.
Expectations created by the TV show impact how average audiences approach Power Rangers movies. It’s been a purposefully campy, kid-friendly B-movie serial since its inception and for 30 years it never left TV sets or toy aisles. If nothing else, an extended stay away from the small screen — we’re in the thick of year two of Power Rangers’ first true hiatus — could benefit its potential on the big ones.
It’s much more likely, though, that any future iteration of Power Rangers “at the movies” will meet the same fate as any Monster of the Day after putting up a good fight. But even MOTDs have their moments — here’s to fun memories past and future!
As far as I can tell, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie isn’t legally available on any paid or ad-supported streaming service on the date of its 30th anniversary. That’s asinine. New DVD copies — sometimes individually, sometimes packaged with Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie — can still be purchased as of this newsletter’s publication, though I’d encourage you to do that sooner rather than later given the general state of home media at retail.
The only Blu-ray version of the film, first released by Shout! Factory in 2018, has been out of print for about a year (same goes for the T:APRM equivalent)4. If you can afford the Blu-ray version of MMPR:TM at its very pricey aftermarket rate, go for it. I’ve watched both versions today and the picture quality on the Blu-ray is so much better. That said, I think the DVD’s still worth owning — in addition to being more cost effective (and therefore less likely to cost your child their inheritance when they break it), its hazy transfer feels reminiscent of what it was like watching the VHS.
Want to learn more about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie? An entire chapter of my book, Morphenomenal: How the Power Rangers Conquered the World, is dedicated to the wild production history of that movie. It’s available anywhere books are sold online, but I encourage you to order it through your favorite local independent bookstore, if you’re fortunate to have one nearby. (Or, request that your local library buy it!)
Our son watched part of MMPR:TM for the first time today and got a kick out of it. He’ll be quoting Ivan Ooze in no time.
The McDonald’s Zord/Ranger toys — which weren’t Happy Meal toys, but rather collectibles to be purchased with Value Meals — remain some of the coolest things ever conceived in fast-food history.
Now 20th Century Studios and owned by Disney.
The latest: Funko! Pops.
This is where I beg Arrow Video to secure the rights and do an epic 4K release. Also: please hire me to do something for it?