Legend of the White Dragon | |
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Directed by | Aaron Schoenke |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Aric Abraham |
Music by | Sean Schoenke |
Production company | Bat in the Sun Productions |
Distributed by | Falling Forward Films |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $508,578 |
Legend of the White Dragon is an upcoming American science-fiction superhero film directed by Aaron Schoenke and was crowdfunded through Kickstarter. [1] It reunites Power Rangers actors Jason David Frank (in his final role before his death), Jason Faunt, Cerina Vincent and Ciara Hanna. It also stars Schoenke, Mayling Ng, David Ramsey, Andrew Bachelor, Mark Dacascos, and Michael Madsen.
In the film, three years after a tragic battle, Erik Reed (Frank) returns to his city to protect his wife and daughter from a new threat. The film is described as a "mature take on the Power Rangers franchise" and introduces a new universe.
After three years of forced hiding as a fugitive, former superhero, Erik Reed returns to the city he swore to protect. His goal: to clear his name and reunite with the family he keeps secret.
Only one thing stands in his way: the mysterious Dragon Prime, who will stop at nothing to enact his revenge on the White Dragon.
Additionally, Ciara Hanna plays Vanessa, a character who was said to be significant to a certain character's story. Lenore Zann will also appear in an unspecified role.
Bat in The Sun is an independent production studio based in Los Angeles, California. Co-founded and co-owned by Aaron Schoenke and his father, Sean Schoenke, the studio gained notoriety in 2010 with the release of their Batman fan film, City of Scars and their YouTube web series Super Power Beat Down.
In 2013, Schoenke met Jason David Frank when he appeared on Super Power Beat Down. Over the next few years, Frank and Schoenke started early discussions for a new project, which would become Legend of the White Dragon.
Saban Brands worked with Bat in the Sun in a professional capacity, when they produced a live action advertisement for the addition of Street Fighter content to the Power Rangers: Legacy Wars mobile game in 2018.
On July 18, 2019, a Kickstarter campaign was launched, hoping to find production for the film. With a goal of $500,000, Johnny Yong Bosch, Jason Faunt and Ciara Hanna had signed on, along with Jason's daughter, Jenna Rae Frank. Unfortunately, the campaign ended on August 18, 2019, unsuccessful in reaching its goal.
A second campaign began on March 20, 2020 and lasted for 60 days, this time with a budget for a $100,000 mini-series, but offered a new stretch goal of $500,000 for a feature film. The initial goal was met in 11 days, and the campaign ended on May 27, 2020 with $508,578 raised, meeting the goal for a feature film. Due to scheduling conflicts, Bosch left the project.
Near the end of the campaign, the main cast was announced. Jason Faunt, Ciara Hanna and Jenna Frank remained from the original cast, joined by Rachele Brooke Smith and Andrew Bachelor. Throughout production, several more cast members were announced, including Mayling Ng, Mark Dacascos and Michael Madsen. Production began in May 2021 in Los Angeles, lasting for 42 days.
In December 2021, David Ramsey and Cerina Vincent were announced as cast members in the film.
In July 2023, the production was granted a waiver, allowing the cast to participate in additional photography through the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. [2]
The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [3] In March 2023, the film's new release date was set on September 4, 2023. [4] However, in July the film was delayed to the first quarter of 2024. [5] [6] The film was originally scheduled to be released in limited theaters on September 4, 2024, but that release has since been removed. [7]
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR) is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the Power Rangers franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along with a large line of toys, action figures, and other merchandise. The show adapted stock footage from the Japanese TV series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (1992–1993), which was the 16th installment of Toei's Super Sentai franchise. The second and third seasons of the show drew elements and stock footage from Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, respectively, though the Zyuranger costumes were still used for the lead cast in these two seasons. Only the mecha and the Kiba Ranger costume from Dairanger were featured in the second season while only the Kakuranger mecha was featured in the third season, though the Kakuranger costumes were later used for the mini-series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. The series was produced by MMPR Productions and distributed by Saban Entertainment, while the show's merchandise was produced and distributed by Bandai Entertainment.
Jason David Frank was an American actor and mixed martial artist, best known for his role as Tommy Oliver in the Power Rangers television franchise.
Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver is a fictional character in the American live-action television franchise Power Rangers. He is best known as being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and nearly defeated the original Power Rangers while under the control of Rita Repulsa. He was eventually freed from Rita's spell and aligned himself with the other Power Rangers. He is a main character in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, as well as four of its successive incarnations Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers Dino Thunder. He also appeared in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red", the Power Rangers S.P.D. episode "Wormhole", the Power Rangers Super Megaforce episode "Legendary Battle", and in the Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel episode "Dimensions in Danger". He was portrayed by actor Jason David Frank in all of his appearances from the Zordon era until Saban Brands era's seasons of the franchise prior to his death in November 2022, with the exception of the episode "Wormhole", where he appeared only in Ranger form and was voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo. He was also infrequently portrayed by actor Michael Gotto in instances where the story required the character during childhood, such as in the series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers.
Power Rangers Wild Force is a television series and the tenth season of Power Rangers. It is also the anniversary season of the Power Rangers franchise, based on the 25th Super Sentai series Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, which itself was the 25th anniversary of Super Sentai.
Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor, martial artist, and television personality. A 4th-degree black belt in Wun Hop Kuen Do, he is known for his roles in action films, including as Louis Stevens in Only the Strong (1993), the title role in Crying Freeman (1995), Mani in Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, the antagonist Ling in Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), Sharish in Nomad (2005), and as the assassin Zero in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).
Walter Emanuel Jones, also known as Tre Emanuel, is an American actor, martial artist, singer and dancer, known for playing the role of Zack Taylor, the original Black Ranger on the hit television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Steve Wang is a Chinese-American make-up artist and filmmaker.
Yūji Machi is a Japanese voice actor who is the voice of Ultraman Tiga as well as the voices of Appule and Daizu in Dragon Ball Z. His real name is Shūji Tanabe, and he works for Aoni Production.
Jason Patrick Faunt is an American actor. He is best known for the role as Wesley Collins in Power Rangers Time Force, as well as his descendant Alex, the former Red Time Force Ranger.
Johnny Yong Bosch is an American actor. His first major role was the portrayal of Adam Park, the second on-screen Black Power Ranger and later, the Green Zeo Ranger and first Green Turbo Ranger in the Power Rangers franchise, which led to roles in some martial arts television and feature films. As a voice actor, some of his most notable roles are Vash the Stampede in Trigun, Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Yu Narukami and Tohru Adachi in Persona 4, Nero in Devil May Cry, and Lelouch Vi Britannia in Code Geass.
Power Rangers Megaforce is the twentieth season of the long-running television series Power Rangers. The show is produced by Saban Brands and began airing on Nickelodeon on February 2, 2013. The show was part of the Power Rangers 20th anniversary. Kidscreen reported that Megaforce featured "the return of many historic Rangers." Megaforce uses footage, costumes and props from the Japanese Super Sentai Series Tensou Sentai Goseiger.
Aaron Schoenke is an American film and television actor, screenwriter, film director, film editor, film producer, and cinematographer. He is known for the films Super Power Beat Down, Ninjak vs The Valiant Universe and Power Rangers: Legacy Wars: Street Fighter Showdown.
Power Rangers is a 2017 American superhero film based on the franchise of the same name. It was directed by Dean Israelite from a screenplay by John Gatins and a story conceived by the writing teams of Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, and Michele and Kieran Mulroney. It is the third installment in the Power Rangers film series, and is a reboot that loosely adapts "Day of the Dumpster", the pilot episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The film features the main characters of the television series with a new cast, starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston, and Elizabeth Banks. The film follows a group of teenagers who gain newfound powers, and must use them to protect Earth from an ancient reawakened threat. Franchise creator Haim Saban returned to produce the film under his investment firm.
Power/Rangers, or Power Rangers: Unauthorized, is an American superhero fan short film based on the Power Rangers franchise, and was directed and co-written by Joseph Kahn, produced by Adi Shankar and Jil Hardin, and co-written by James Van Der Beek and Dutch Southern. The short film featured an ensemble cast starring Katee Sackhoff, Van Der Beek, Russ Bain, Will Yun Lee, and Gichi Gamba. It was released on YouTube and Vimeo on February 23, 2015.
Power Rangers: Legacy Wars is a fighting video game based on the 2017 film Power Rangers, created by San Francisco–based game developer nWay with characters from the movie and the TV show. The game was featured on Amazon, Apple's AppStore and Google Play Store. The game has been downloaded more than 50 million times.
"Shattered Grid" is a 2018 crossover comic book event published by Boom! Studios, in collaboration with Saban Brands. Based on the Power Rangers franchise by Haim Saban, it was mostly written by Kyle Higgins and Ryan Parrott through the ongoing comic series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Saban's Go Go Power Rangers to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original television series.
Batman: Soul of the Dragon is a 2021 American animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment. It is the 42nd film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. The film is directed by Sam Liu and executive produced by Bruce Timm featuring an original story not based on any comic, set in the 1970s and inspired by martial arts films of that time. It features the voices of David Giuntoli as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Mark Dacascos as Richard Dragon, Kelly Hu as Lady Shiva, Michael Jai White as Ben Turner / Bronze Tiger and James Hong as O-Sensei. White reprised his role from The CW's TV show Arrow and Hu reprised her role from WB Games Montréal's video game Batman: Arkham Origins. The film was dedicated to comic book writer Dennis O'Neil who died on June 11, 2020, at the age of 81.
Batman: Dying Is Easy is a 2021 superhero fan film directed by Aaron and Sean Schoenke, based on the Batman franchise. It stars Kevin Porter as Batman and Aaron Schoenke as the Joker. The film is the third Batman fan film by the Schoenke brothers after City of Scars (2010) and Seeds of Arkham (2011).
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is a 2023 American superhero television film serving to commemorate the 30th anniversary of both Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993–1995) and the Power Rangers franchise.