From 'Power Rangers' to 'Kong,' Poughquag's Gatins a Hollywood hit

Head over to Regal Cinemas in Poughkeepsie or Fishkill and you can see two films with a lot in common.

“Power Rangers” and “Kong: Skull Island” offer updated perspectives on story lines and characters firmly planted in popular culture.

Both films have generated millions of dollars in ticket sales and occupy slots in the list of top 10 movies on www.boxofficemojo.com.

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And both films feature the writing of John Gatins, a graduate of Arlington High School and Vassar College who grew up in Poughquag and owns a home in Dutchess County.

An Academy Award nominee, Gatins wrote the story for “Kong: Skull Island” and was one of the film’s four screenwriters. He wrote the “Power Rangers” screenplay.

“It’s a little crazy,” Gatins, a 48-year-old California resident, told the Journal during a recent interview. “You work on movies and you never know, because the release schedules for different companies can shift around.”

He continued, “When I first started working on “Kong: Skull Island,” that release date was moving around; and “Power Rangers” the same. Both got slated for March, which made me go, ‘Oh boy.’ It’s like having two kids who make the finals in some sporting event - against each other.”

“Kong: Skull Island” and “Power Rangers” mark the latest chapters in the colossal career that Gatins has carved out for himself in Hollywood. Among his accomplishments is the Academy Award-nominated, original screenplay he wrote for “Flight,” which starred Denzel Washington.

All three films show the breadth Gatins has as a writer. He also was an executive producer on “Power Rangers.”

“I tapped my different views of the world,” he said.

“Kong: Skull Island,” “Power Rangers” and their links to Dutchess County through Gatins also represent yet another connection that binds the Hudson Valley to the motion picture industry.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Dutchess resident Shawn Christensen finds the region “inspiring.

“It’s a beautiful area,” he said. “It’s north of the city. It’s a good getaway when you don’t want to be in the rat race. I do think that people reach a point where they like to have a place that tends to be normal.”

Among the links between Hollywood and the Hudson Valley are Samuel’s Sweet Shop in Rhinebeck - actors Paull Rudd and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are partners. Also, Declan Baldwin, executive producer for the Academy Award-winning film, “Manchester by the Sea,” is a part-time Woodstock resident.

And local officials involved with attracting film production to the region say an expanded state tax credit for filming is helping the Hudson Valley build on its cinematic success. Film production in the Hudson Valley in 2016 generated more than $8 million in local spending.

“The Hudson Valley is on the map,” Gatins said. “It’s definitely become a place that people put in the mix when they’re thinking about where to film a movie.”

The Hudson Valley also looms large in some notable Hollywood careers, like that of actor James Earl Jones of Pawling - and Gatins.

In addition to the home that Gatins owns in Dutchess - “We have a house there that we love” - his mother and sister live here and he returns for visits in the summer and for holidays.

“I’m still a hometown boy,” he said.

The bonds that Gatins maintains with Dutchess run deep. He played on the first Arlington High School boys soccer team to win a state championship, in 1984. And he was an apprentice at Vassar and New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater.

“I remember John very well,” said Gary Montalto, who coached that championship soccer team. “It doesn’t surprise me, with all the success he’s had.”

Montalto continued, “When you relate it to athletics and the soccer team, he was the ultimate team player. He wasn’t a starter on that ‘84 championship team. But when you talk about a reserve player being all in and a full 110 percent, support at every moment of the season, that was John.”

Gatins came to “Kong: Skull Island” by way of 2016 film “Spectral,” where he did uncredited rewrite work That film was made by Legendary Pictures, which is also responsible for “Kong.”

“They came to me and said, ‘We’re working on this “King Kong” movie,’ Gatins recalled.

Gatins bonded with “Kong” director Jordan Vogt-Roberts during a visit to Skywalker Ranch in California, made famous by “Star Wars” creator George Lucas.

“We spent a couple of days up there,” Gatins said. “We brainstormed ‘Kong’ there.”

The movie is set amidst the Vietnam War era and Gatins relied on discussions and emails he had with his former Arlington High School health teacher, Jaan Vari, a Vietnam War veteran, while developing the story.

“That was a big movie,” Gatins said of "Kong."

Next came “Power Rangers.”

Gatins knew several people involved with the production and, “I was back East in Dutchess, on my way to Cape Cod, and I got a phone call saying, ‘We want to bring you on.’ I got fired up about it. I jumped on.”

He continued, “We worked really hard to put that script together. Because I’m a bit of an older guy in my business at this point, my experience was helpful.”

Gatins was on the “Power Rangers” set in Vancouver and was involved with post-production.

“At times in my career, I’ve come on during production, or right before, to try and help, when casting has affected the way things should get steered,” Gatins said.

On “Power Rangers,” he continued, “This was more than that. They had developed the script through different writers. They were trying to figure out how to best make it an original story, to imagine and re-imagine these teen characters in this movie.”

Gatins leaned on the experience he gained working as an actor on the film, “Varsity Blues,” which was released in 1999. He also did uncredited rewrite work on the movie. According to www.imdb.com, “Varsity Blues” features a story in which “a back-up quarterback is chosen to lead a Texas football team to victory after the star quarterback is injured.”

Gatins turned 30 during rehearsals for “Varsity Blues, two days before shooting began.

“Now I have the lens of being a parent as well as being a movie fan,” he said. “I was thinking in ‘Varsity Blues,’ I could go to this high school. For ‘Power Rangers,’ it’s like, I can pick my kids up from this high school.”

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo

If you go

“Power Rangers” and “Kong: Skull Island” are both playing at Regal Galleria Mall Stadium 16, Poughkeepsie Galleria; and Regal Fishkill 10, Fishkill. Visit www.regmovies.com or call 1-844-462-7342, ext.481, for information on Poughkeepsie; call 1-844-462-7342, ext.475 for information on Fishkill. 

“Kong: Skull Island” is also playing at Lyceum Cinemas in Red Hook. Visit www.greatmovieslowerprices.com or call 845-758-3311 for information.

John Gatins: A Select Filmography

2017 - “Power Rangers”

2017 - “Kong: Skull Island”

2014 - “Need for Speed” 

2012 - “Flight”

2011 - “Real Steel” 

2005 - “Coach Carter” 

2001 - “Hardball”

Did you know

•  John Gatins in 1994 served as an apprentice at Vassar and New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater, on the Vassar College campus. 
• His best friend at Powerhouse was Josh Radnor, who went on to star in television’s “How I Met Your Mother” and has returned to Powerhouse. In addition to remaining friends, Gatins helped steer Radnor to his agent. “We were thick as thieves,” Gatins said. “It’s been fun to watch his career and for him to watch my career. We’ve kept in touch.”
• John Gatins in 1977 saw “Star Wars” at the Roosevelt Cinemas in Hyde Park. While developing the story for “Kong: Skull Island,” Gatins and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts spent time at Skywalker Ranch in California, which is home to Lucasfilm’s sound design, mixing and audio post-production facility, Skywalker Sound Lucasfilm wa launched by “Star Wars” creator George Lucas. Among the characters in “Star Wars” were two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2. “Jordan and I were able to go in the archives,” Gatins said of Skywalker Ranch. “You’re just blown away...You’re walking along and you’re standing in front of these huge shelves. You’re wondering, ‘Why is everything gold?’ It’s C-3PO. You turn another corner and R2-D2 is just standing there.”