Saban’s Power Rangers movie may have struggled at the overseas box office, but it crushed the competition on store shelves.
Lionsgate’s action-packed film has propelled Power Rangers to rank as the number one selling action figures brand, according to NPD data.
Since Saban’s Power Rangers movie hit theaters, sales of Power Rangers toys have nearly doubled against 2016, overtaking brands such as Star Wars, Marvel, and Transformers. And compared against 2016 to date, Power Rangers toy sales are up nearly 23%.
The news comes as a major victory for Power Rangers, which has endured a week of critical analysis following the movie’s overseas flop in China. Currently standing at nearly $140 million worldwide, Lionsgate has yet to issue any official word on a potential sequel for their re-imagined teenagers with attitude.
“These are fantastic results testament to the strength of the Power Rangers brand…Power Rangers has proven its position not only as a classic brand but as a must-have toy in such a competitive market place.” – Tess Parsons-Broome, Bandai Marketing Manager in an interview with ToyNews
Toys for Saban’s Power Rangers movie were produced by Bandai, with products ranging from action figures, to battle gear, to Zords that combine to form a 2-foot tall Megazord. The toys were sold alongside Bandai’s toy line for Power Rangers Ninja Steel, the 24th season of Power Rangers currently airing Saturdays at noon on Nickelodeon.
New toys for both Saban’s Power Rangers movie and Power Rangers Ninja Steel will be released in the coming months.
Throughout the month of April, Saban’s Power Rangers movie was the featured brand at Toys “R” Us stores nationwide, with a captivating display welcoming buyers into the store. With ease of access and a dazzling presentation, the display (seen below) may have played a role in pushing Power Rangers to the top action figure spot.
The Power Rangers also inked a partnership deal with Target, who bet big on Saban’s Power Rangers movie. The retailer became the exclusive provider for a wide range of products based on the film including light-up Power Swords, masks, t-shirts, sleepwear, and more. The retailer will also be the exclusive destination for the Steelbook Edition Blu-ray of Saban’s Power Rangers movie (seen below), which releases on June 27.
Fans can currently support Saban’s Power Rangers movie by heading to both Toys “R” Us and Target for all their merchandise needs, in addition to other retailers including Walmart and Hot Topic.
And be sure to follow Power Rangers NOW on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news.
I think the reason the movie struggled in China is because of its later release then in Europe and USA and the fact with the Internet and other social media outlets the Chinese people and Japanese people will have already seen the film hence why there was poor cinema sales in China. If it had been released same weekend as the Europe release things may have been different. But still hopeful of a sequel and maybe lionsgate will have learnt it’s lesson with releasing the first film later in China and Japan.
How did the Chinese and Japanese already see the film before the China release?
why didn’t they release a separate soundtrack from Brian Tyler’s score with the songs featured in the movie? I would’ve bought that in a heartbeat.
some good news at last! Speaking of the failure in China, it may also have been due to other factors besides release date such as the unpredictability of a new market which was isolated not long ago. A week later and I’m still stunned at the low figures, not that I expected it to be a hit but they just don’t make a bit of sense to me. The final weekend gross should have been at least double what it was, 5 to 6 million and it still wouldn’t have been a hit anyway.
The movie did well in Malasya, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia which makes it hard to blame fans for having counted on China to provide a huge boost. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference as China distributors and theater companies end up with about 3/4 of what movies gross, way more than in the US and the rest of the world.
I Love this movie. But if coming soon maybe you tell folks from saban about the new film. It’s called masked rider 2018. It will be epic.
I love the Power Ranger movie it was great I enjoyed it and I will always enjoy it
Gorden Morrison
69. Mickeys Lane Eskasoni
Nova Socta 7159 box
I went to watch the movie with 2 of my own bosses. I grew up with the Power Rangers, VR Troopers,Masked Rider and Superhuman Samurai Cyber Squad. I knew what not to expect; spandex suits and Voltron-like dinozords. But the movie made my blood boil and my adrenaline rush just like the classic tv series. I’d even taken up toy collecting again in light of the movie. Between the action figures from Star Wars, He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe, Thundercats, the Power Rangers are a more than welcomed addition to my collection. Bottom line: IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!!!!
I would do anything thing to see this movie again but with a new one like Saban’s power rangers 2
You forget to indicate that the store display was removed in favor of Cars recently, and that the toys are not selling from the movie line, at least they didn’t in my location. I’ve yet to see Rita or wave two, because the stores are clogged with the core 5 rangers and Alpha. You also ignore the fact that these sales lump all three core brands together, Legacy, TV and movie. Legacy toys are expensive when compared to the main TV and movie lines with a Megazord with die cast parts being 100 bucks and the most expensive Titanus and Thunder Megazord from a few years ago being 150-200. Sales would also see an improvement from last year because there was no movie line to profit off of. Any sales from an added 3rd line, would be seen as an improvement. Finally, and this is important, unless someone can tell me otherwise, Lionsgate the distributor and current owner of the film rights DO NOT PROFIT off of toy sales. Saban owns Power Rangers outright and Bandai will make money off of the product they produced, but the investors, producers, and studio will not see a red cent from this film.
I bought most of my Legacy items before the movie came out