Movies

Earl Of 'Me And Earl And The Dying Girl' Will Be The Blue Power Ranger

RJ Cyler in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
By Angie Han

The "Me" part of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is shipping off for Kong: Skull Island, while the "Dying Girl" part is ready to play in Ready Player One. Now the "Earl" part has booked his next high-profile role as well. RJ Cyler will play the Blue Ranger in Power Rangers, Dean Israelite's upcoming "reimagining" of the '90s TV series.

The rest of his squad includes Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger, and Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger. Now we just need a Yellow Ranger to complete the Megazord. Read about the latest Power Rangers casting after the jump. 

The latest Power Rangers casting updates were announced on Twitter.

Israelite has stuck with near-unknowns for his Power Rangers cast, so Cyler counts as one of the better known names. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was only his second IMDb credit, but he made a big impression as the lead's clever, deadpan best friend. Coming up next for him are David Michôd's War Machine with Brad Pitt, and the HBO comedy series Vice Principals.

Lin's previous credits include a guest spot on Netflix's Marco Polo, a couple of shorts, and the Chinese smash hit Monster Hunt. Montgomery is making his feature film debut with Power Rangers. Scott is definitely the biggest star on board, having previously appeared in Fox's Terra Nova, the Disney Channel movie Lemonade Mouth, and this year's The 33 and The Martian.

Meet Montgomery and Scott below.

Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz scripted Power Rangers, which Variety describes as a "reimagining." But don't call it a reboot; some reports have suggested it's technically a sequel. But, you know, the kind that is actually, not-so-secretly, still a reboot, like the new Star Trek movies or Terminator: Genisys or X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Director Israelite has described the screenplay for Power Rangers as "a really cool, contemporary, mature but still playful, buoyant and fun take on the material." The "mature" part might suggest it'll be targeted more at the people who grew up with Power Rangers in its '90s heyday. Though the franchise is still active (the 22nd TV season is airing now on Nickelodeon), it's not the phenomenon that it was back then.

Power Rangers opens January 13, 2017, which has suddenly become a super popular time for studios to try and launch new franchises. The rebooted Friday the 13th and Ron Howard's The Dark Tower are also opening on that date.

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