Shortly before the Power Rangers movie was pushed back to 2017 , we learned that Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) was set to direct the film, penned by screenwriters Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-Men: First Class, Thor).

This week, I got a chance to speak with Israelite about the home video release of Project Almanac (more on that soon!), and I was able to ask him a few Power Rangers questions.

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Obviously, the filmmaker couldn't say much about the story (which is still under lock and key at Lionsgate), but he was able to talk about the film's tone, which he described as grounded and mature but also "completely playful." He also revealed how he actually got the directing gig and when we might start to see casting announcements.

“ We're in sort of a soft pre-production right now, doing a lot of design work and reimagining the world.

Sure. I read the script and was really surprised by it and thought there was a really cool, contemporary, mature but still playful, buoyant and fun take on the material, and was updated in a really interesting way. It had this wonderful character that's essential to going on a fantastic adventure. I was instantly drawn to it. I remember it as a kid. I grew up with it in South Africa. When I opened the script I had no idea how it was going to be updated, and I was really impressed by it. So I put a really big presentation together, because I needed to win the job. There were a lot of guys going out for it and saw the potential in it, so I put a really big presentation together and was lucky enough to get the job. We're in sort of a soft pre-production right now, doing a lot of design work and reimagining the world. It's really cool and exciting.

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“ Oh, yes, it needs to be completely playful.

Oh, man. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say. I'm going to plead the fifth on that.Oh, yes, it needs to be completely playful, and it needs to be really fun and funny. But like Project Almanac, I hope it's going to feel very grounded at the same time, and very contemporary and have a real edge to it, and a real gut to it. So I think it's going to be a fun, joyful [movie] but one that feels completely grounded in a real world, with real characters going through real things.Yeah, I hope so. We're just at the beginnings of that. We're going to be shooting soon, so yes, I'm hoping news of that is going to come out in the next few months.

Power Rangers hits theaters on January 13, 2017.Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter or MaxNicholson on IGN.