The Power Rangers have persisted for years as a staple of television for younger crowds, though many of us still cherish the Rangers in our older age. The franchise lives on through so many different iterations, but has only received a theatrical film adaptation a handful of times. In March of 2017, the Rangers will be returning to the big screen and like a few other recent films, it will be receiving not only a gritty reboot, but a VR experience during its marketing run as well.
Revealed in a press release from Qualcomm, the company is partnering with Lionsgate for the experience and it will make its first appearance at CES which takes place next week from January 5th to the 8th in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor and will put the viewer into the infamous Zords, the huge mech units that the Power Rangers pilot when they have to take on large creatures in combat.
“We’re happy to be working with Lionsgate to create an exciting virtual reality experience for Power Rangers fans through the technologies we’ve implemented on Snapdragon 835,” said Mike Finley, senior vice president and president, North America and Australia, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., in a press release. Those technologies allow for high VR frame rates, real-time rendering, and high definition video on mobile platforms.
While it will be powered by Qualcomm, the VR experience itself will be produced by Reel FX. The studio is responsible for animation and branded VR content in collaboration with companies like GMC, Hilton, and American Express. They also recently did a Christmas themed VR project with JC Penny called “Twas The Flight Before Christmas”.
The Power Rangers film hits theaters on March 24th, 2017, features Bryan Cranston as Zordon and Elizabeth Banks (who’s lending her voice to an upcoming VR short film) as Rita Repulsa, and is directed by Dean Israelite who’s known for his recent film Project Almanac.
