In 21st-century Angel Grove, high school football star Jason Scott is dismissed from the team and placed under house arrest after a failed prank. In detention, he encounters Billy Cranston and Kimberly Hart. After defending Billy from a bully, Billy offers to deactivate Jason's ankle monitor for help at an old gold mine that evening. Once there, Jason leaves to explore and runs into Kimberly. Billy detonates explosives to break some rock, attracting the attention of Jason, Kimberly and nearby students Trini and Zack. The five discover the Power Coins and each take one. While escaping mine security, their car is hit by a train. The five find themselves at home the next morning and discover that the coins have granted them superhuman abilities. Elsewhere, Rita's body is found. Waking, she goes on a rampage, hunting pieces of gold to raise her minion Goldar to find the Zeo Crystal.
In the United States and Canada, Power Rangers opened alongside Life, CHiPs and Wilson, and was projected to gross $30–35 million from 3,693 theaters on its opening weekend. The film made $3.6 million from Thursday night previews and $15 million on its first day. It went on to debut to $40.3 million, finishing second at the box office behind Beauty and the Beast ($90.4 million). The audience was notably diverse and mostly 18–34 years old. In its second weekend the film grossed $14.5 million (a drop of 64%), finishing 4th at the box office. In June 2017, Dean Israelite said that the film's PG-13 rating probably contributed to the film's underperformance at the box office.
Actors began testing for the roles of the five Power Rangers on October 2, 2015. On October 7, 2015, Naomi Scott was cast as Kimberly. Newcomers Dacre Montgomery, Ludi Lin and RJ Cyler were then cast as Jason, Zack, and Billy, respectively. At the month's end, Becky G was chosen to play Trini. When it came to casting the Rangers, Director Dean Israelite said, "From the very beginning, diversity was a very important part of the whole process," and that while the characters' races were switched around, he added that, "We made sure that the essence of each of those characters are who they were in the original show, and this really will be an origin story of those characters." On February 2, 2016, it was announced that Elizabeth Banks would portray Rita Repulsa. Four months later, Bryan Cranston, who voiced Twin Man and Snizard in the original series, announced he was cast as Zordon. Cranston revealed that he would perform motion-capture and CGI. In September 2016, Walter Emanuel Jones, the actor who played Zack in the original series, stated none of the original cast would cameo in the film. Towards the end of the month, Comedian Bill Hader was cast as Alpha 5. In March 2017, it was reported that Amy Jo Johnson and Jason David Frank, who played Kimberly and Tommy in the original series, would cameo in the film, despite Jones' earlier comments.
On December 8, 2016, a new poster debuted, as well as a photo of Rita Repulsa. On December 19, 2016, Lionsgate and Boom! Studios announced that they would release a graphic novel titled Power Rangers: Aftershock, set immediately after the events of the movie. An international trailer was released on December 22, 2016. Qualcomm and Lionsgate produced a virtual reality mobile app of the film Power Rangers Movie Command Center that was exhibited at the CES 2017, from January 5–8, 2017, and was released in the App Store on March 8, 2017. On January 19, a second trailer, titled It’s Morphin Time!, was released. Lionsgate debuted yet another trailer, which it called the All-Star Trailer, on February 17. New TV spots were released on February 27, two about the Power Rangers, and one about Rita Repulsa. A clip was released on March 6, followed by two more on March 9. Thirty-seven stills were then released. Another TV spot was released on March 10. In the final week before the movie premiered, two more clips, as well as photos, were released.
In a May 2016 conference call to analysts, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer stated, "We could see doing five or six or seven." On March 22, 2017, Haim Saban said that he and Lionsgate already have a six-film story arc. However in May 2017, Forbes noted that due to the underwhelming performance of the film in most markets, it was unlikely any sequels would be made. Later that same month, it was reported that the sequels could still be made thanks to record-breaking merchandise sales. Prior to the home release of the movie, Israelite confirmed that talks were taking place regarding a sequel and that he would like to include Lord Zedd in it. The possibility of a sequel increased once more in early July 2017 when it was reported that the film held the number one spot in home media sales and rentals in its first week. In August 2017, Saban abandoned its trademark for the film's logo. A Saban Brands representative stated in October 2017 that "Power Rangers continues to own and renew hundreds of trademark registrations worldwide, including for the 2017 movie logo. The trademark registration process is very nuanced, and the status of the single application has no bearing on our ownership of or the Future plans for Power Rangers. The franchise remains as strong and enthusiastic about its Future as ever."
Mike Ryan of Uproxx gave the film a negative review, writing: "Power Rangers has one of the most zig-zagged tones of any big budget studio film I’ve seen in a long time. It’s jarring at times how often it goes back and forth between 'gritty' and 'silly'." Writing for Variety, Owen Gleiberman also criticized the film's conflicting tones, saying: "...25 years ago, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was launched as superhero fodder for kids, and there was indeed a place for it, but we’re now so awash in superhero culture that kids no longer need the safe, lame, pandering junior-league version of it. They can just watch Ant-Man or the PG-13 Suicide Squad. Safe, lame, and pandering have all grown up." In a review for The Telegraph, Robbie Collin gave it 1/5 stars, criticizing the "abjectly embarrassing frenzy of product placement".
