Lionsgate's Power Rangers landed on top in home video sales within just one week of its release. It might not come as much of a surprise to say that the studio's attempt at rebooting the beloved property on the big screen this year had mixed success at best - splitting critics in terms of reviews (see also the movie's 46% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), yet performing generally well with fans and your average moviegoers. With a solid cast of both veteran and unknown actors leading the way, the film was one of the more unique blockbusters that has hit theaters so far this year, setting up the possibility of many more Power Rangers sequels in the years to come, in the process.

However, Power Rangers didn't deliver the box office returns that Lionsgate and Saban were hoping it would - something that director Dean Israelite attributes in part to the PG-13 rating. As a direct result of the movie's underwhelming box office receipts, the chances of a Power Rangers sequel being made - let alone the multiple ones Lionsgate and Saban had originally planned - has noticeably decreased over the past few months.

However, it looks as though Power Rangers may be finding a second shot at success, months after its initial U.S. theatrical release. HomeMedia Magazine is reporting that in just its first week of being made available, Power Rangers rose to the top in home video sales, climbing above both John Wick: Chapter Two and Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast. In addition, Power Rangers also grabbed the top spot in the weekly rentals, dethroning both Sony Pictures' sci-fi horror flick, Life, and 20th Century Fox's Logan. 

It's hard to know for sure what kind of an effect this may have on Lionsgate's decision to move forward with a Power Rangers sequel or not. After all, while the film performing well in the home video sales is a comforting bit of success for it, there's still the possibility of a sequel underperforming at the box office in a similar way as this year's reboot did. The real question isn't whether or not Power Rangers can manage to have longer legs than analysts might have initially predicted, but if the property has enough momentum going behind it for a sequel to perform well.

With a domestic total of just over $85 million dollars at the domestic box office, the film didn't even manage to fully make back its $100 million production budget, until it made an additional $54 million in the international market. The film still has one more territory to open in theatrically, with it set to hit theaters in Japan on July 15th, where it still has the potential to perform well. But for the time being, even with these positive home video sales and the potential for more sizable box office numbers to come in, it looks as though the potential for a Power Rangers sequel is still very much a mystery.

Source: HomeMedia Magazine