Elizabeth Banks joins 'Power Rangers' movie as Rita Repulsa

Elizabeth Banks has joined Lionsgate's "Power Rangers" movie as the evil alien witch Rita Repulsa.

"Power Rangers" will open on March 24, 2017. The studio has tapped Dean Israelite to direct and cast five young actors to star — Becky G. as the Yellow Ranger, Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger, Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger and R.J. Cyler as the Blue Ranger.

Producers are Saban Films' Haim Saban and Brian Casentini, along with Allison Shearmur. Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz wrote the script.

The story reimagines the origins of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of high school kids given extraterrestrial powers who unite to save the world.

The 1993 Fox Kids TV series became a pop culture phenomenon and inspired a big-screen adaptation, "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie," in 1995.

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Lionsgate and Saban Brands announced plans in 2014 to develop and produce a live-action movie based on Saban's Power Rangers property as the first film in a franchise.

Banks directed and appeared in "Pitch Perfect 2" for Universal, and starred in Lionsgate's "Hunger Games" films. She is repped by UTA, Untitled Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.

Lionsgate announced the casting of Banks via a post on the Power Rangers Twitter account.

Banks tweeted about it as well, writing "After 10,000 years, I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth!!⚡️ Time to play #RitaRepulsa #PowerRangersMovie."