Jason David Frank's final film gets a new trailer before release
A new trailer for Legend of the White Dragon gives fans their clearest look yet at Jason David Frank's final on-screen performance ahead of the film's limited U.S. theatrical release on August 28, 2026. The crowdfunded indie superhero movie stars the late Mighty Morphin Power Rangers icon as disgraced hero Erik Reed, who returns from exile to protect his city and family—a bittersweet curtain call for the franchise's most celebrated star.
Key Takeaways
- Legend of the White Dragon dropped a new trailer confirming its Aug. 28, 2026 theatrical debut on National Power Rangers Day.
- Jason David Frank leads as Erik Reed, a fugitive former superhero, in his last role after stepping away from official Power Rangers projects.
- The cast reunites Rangers alumni Jason Faunt, Cerina Vincent, and Ciara Hanna, plus David Ramsey, Mark Dacascos, and the late Michael Madsen.
- Co-directed by Aaron and Sean Schoenke, the Bat in the Sun production was Kickstarter-funded and delayed by the pandemic and 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes.
- It is not an official Power Rangers film, though Frank described Erik Reed as a darker, more mature character separate from Tommy Oliver.
What is Legend of the White Dragon?
Legend of the White Dragon is an independent superhero action film that Bat in the Sun Productions spent years completing after a successful $500,000 Kickstarter campaign. Polygon reports the story centers on Erik Reed, who has lived as a fugitive for three years after a brutal battle left him blamed for mass destruction and the loss of innocent lives.
The new trailer teases a prophecy pitting the White Dragon against a Dark Dragon, with martial-arts spectacle and armored suits that echo Power Rangers style without using official Rangers branding. Frank helped develop the project with director Aaron Schoenke beginning in 2013, after collaborating on the web series Super Power Beat Down. In a 2021 Comic Book interview cited by MovieWeb, Frank said Erik Reed is "a completely different opposite than Tommy Oliver."
Why didn't Jason David Frank join Power Rangers: Once & Always?
According to Polygon, Frank stepped back from the franchise before his death and chose not to appear in Netflix's 30th-anniversary special Power Rangers: Once & Always, even as other legacy cast members returned. He instead focused on Legend of the White Dragon, the passion project he saw as the next chapter of his career.
For fans who grew up watching Tommy Oliver, that choice makes the August release especially poignant. Well Go USA Entertainment CEO Doris Pfardrescher has said the film celebrates Frank's life and legacy alongside the sci-fi action audiences expect. More streaming and TV alerts are tracking similar farewell stories across genre television.
When and where can you see the film?
Well Go USA Entertainment will give Legend of the White Dragon a limited theatrical run starting August 28, 2026—the same date as National Power Rangers Day and the kickoff of Power Morphicon. MovieWeb notes the release follows multiple delays: a planned 2020 launch was stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes pushed timelines further.
Frank died in 2022, so every frame in theaters will be posthumous. The cast also includes his daughter Jenna Rae Frank, Andrew "King Bach" Bachelor, Rachele Brooke Smith, and fellow Power Rangers veterans alongside the late Michael Madsen in his own final film appearance. Full details are in the Polygon breakdown of the trailer drop.