I remember watching the airing of the first episode of Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when I was in first grade over twenty years ago — wanting to be the red ranger, falling in love with the pink ranger, and then kicking the red ranger to the curb once the cooler green ranger showed up. Though having undergone multiple incarnations over the years, the popularity of the show seems to have remained strong with every new generation of viewers — and my personal nostalgia for the original cast has yet to waver.

In what presents itself as a strange piece of news — considering the show is still running with new episodes and a brand new series to come next year — Saban is partnering with Lionsgate to “re-envision” the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers via a live-action film franchise.

Saban’s official press release states:

The new film franchise will re-envision The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of high school kids who are infused with unique and cool super powers but must harness and use those powers as a team if they have any hope of saving the world…

They [Lionsgate] have the vision, marketing prowess and incredible track record in launching breakthrough hits from The Hunger Games to Twilight and Divergent. In partnership with the Lionsgate team, we’re confident that we will capture the world of the Power Rangers and translate it into a unique and memorable motion picture phenomenon with a legacy all its own.

Neither Saban nor Lionsgate have revealed too much about the project, but there are many questions that I’m already wondering and I can only imagine others are as well: will these movies be aimed towards children, teenagers, adults, or all of the above? Will Jason David Frank (arguably the most popular ranger ever) be involved? Will Alpha 5 waddle across the command center shouting, “Aye-yi-yi!”? Either way, I find myself oddly intrigued by this news.

In the words of the great Zordon himself, “Alpha, teleport to us five overbearing and overemotional humans!”

[Source: Lionsgate]