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  1. #1
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    Charlie's Angels

    A reboot of the reboot?

    Elizabeth Banks in Talks to Direct New 'Charlie's Angels' Movie (Exclusive)


    Elizabeth Banks

    by Borys Kit
    9/15/2015 2:00pm PDT

    Sony is rebooting the franchise.

    Charlie’s Angels is getting a new shot at the big-screen, this time with Elizabeth Banks involved.

    Sony is rebooting the franchise, about three attractive women who work as private detectives, and is in negotiations to hire Banks to direct the new movie.

    Banks will also produce with her husband and producing partner Max Handelman. The studio and producers will begin a search for a writer to tackle the reboot.

    Angels, a hit television series in the 1970s, centered around three detectives — played by Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith — who worked to solve cases for a mysterious benefactor named Charlie, while also joshing with their sidekick, Bosley.

    At first known as Jiggle TV and not taken too seriously, the show became a breakout hit and the actresses household names. Fawcett soon left and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd. Tanya Roberts also joined the cast in later seasons as ratings were declining.

    The property got an infusion of female empowerment energy in its big-screen treatment in 2000, when Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu starred in the action comedy hit directed by McG. (Bill Murray played Bosley.) The film was followed by a bloated and not well-received sequel, 2003’s Charlie’s Angles: Full Throttle, that effectively killed the movie franchise.

    Read More Elizabeth Banks' $200 Million Path to Directing 'Pitch Perfect 2'

    An attempt to revive it as a television series in 2011 only lasted four episodes.

    Banks, who has demonstrated a gift for comedy and drama as an actress, has also shown an affinity for female empowerment projects as the steward of the Pitch Perfect franchise. The movies focus on an all-girl a cappella group that takes on male rivals.

    Banks made her feature directorial debut with Pitch 2, one of Universal’s massive summer hits. The movie, with a budget in the $30 million range, opened to almost $70 million domestic, giving her the second-largest opening for a female director. (The movie has made almost $184 million domestic.)

    The movie also opened up a new career chapter for Banks, that of a director. She is already attached to direct YA fantasy Red Queen at Universal. Although Universal is putting together the pieces for Pitch 3, her involvement as director remains unclear.

    She is repped by UTA, Untitled Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.
    Gene Ching
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    Writer Evan Spiliotopoulos

    Now we just need to cast some Angels.

    Charlie’s Angels Reboot Lands Beauty and the Beast Writer Evan Spiliotopoulos
    BY MAX EVRY ON DECEMBER 16, 2015


    Charlie’s Angels reboot lands Beauty and the Beast writer Evan Spiliotopoulos

    Back in September, it was announced that Sony Pictures was developing a big-screen Charlie’s Angels reboot with actress-turned-Pitch Perfect 2 helmer Elizabeth Banks in the director’s chair. Now movement continues as the studio has hired hot scribe Evan Spiliotopoulos to tackle the new adaptation’s screenplay.

    Although his most high-profile studio film has been Dwayne Johnson’s 2014 Hercules, Spiliotopoulos cut his teeth on Disney animated features (The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie) and has The Huntsman Winter’s War coming out next year and Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast in 2017. He was also recently brought on to rewrite Universal’s Wanted sequel, so his credits speak to a perfect balance of action and humor that an Angels reboot will no doubt need.

    “The original ethos of women who graduated from the police academy, and then were given the jobs of crossing guard and meter maid, I feel like that’s still very real in the world right now,” Banks told the trade of her guiding impetus in making the film. She is also set to produce the new film alongside her husband Max Handelman through their Brownstone production company.

    The original show focused on three women who worked as a team of private investigators, receiving their orders from the mysterious Charlie Townsend (voiced by John Forsythe, but whose face was never revealed). Although the lineup changed during the course of the series, the four key headlining actresses were Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Facett, Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd.

    The popular series ran for five seasons and, in 2000, launched a feature film franchise starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. That film also turned out a 2003 sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.

    A television “Charlie’s Angels” reboot was attempted in 2011 with Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly, Rachael Taylor headlining. Airing on ABC, it only lasted eight episodes.
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    I think ScarJo was just a rumor/hoax...

    ...but that was an amusing one for sure.

    For the record, ScarJo would be awesome in Charlie's Angels.

    Doug Belgrad Launches 2.0, Will Co-Fi ‘Bad Boys’ & ‘Zombieland’ Sequels, ‘Charlie’s Angels’
    by Mike Fleming Jr
    September 8, 2016 1:47pm



    EXCLUSIVE: Three months after ending a 25-year run as a Sony Pictures film exec — the last three as Motion Picture Group president after 10 as Columbia Pictures president — Doug Belgrad has christened his new production shingle 2.0 Entertainment. He has hired Open Road exec Sophie Cassidy to be SVP Production, joining at the end of September. It will take until year’s end for him to tie down his outside financing and a while longer to assert himself as a buyer. But Belgrad will get his venture going by becoming a minority co-financier on Sony projects Peter Rabbit, Bad Boys 3, Zombieland 2, Mulan, Charlies Angels, and Mallory. The latter is a Doug Liman-directed drama about British mountaineer George Mallory and his attempts to summit Mount Everest. He has also gotten started in television with four active projects including a sitcom with Jake Kasdan.


    2.0 Entertainment

    Belgrad’s shingle will generate films and TV projects as producer and co-financier, and it will be headquartered on the Sony lot with a first-look feature deal there. He’ll co-finance between 10%-33% of the pre-existing Sony films, but will go 50/50 on packages he brings to the studio. If Sony doesn’t bite, Belgrad can partner with other studios or finance independently and distribute through Sony. The goal is to leverage Belgrad’s skills and relationships to entice talent to play in the mid-size-budget sandbox. Belgrad was certainly part of his share of big films at Sony, but those won’t be the focus of 2.0. He cited projects he helped shepherd, from 21 to The Social Network, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Zero Dark Thirty, Karate Kid, Equalizer, Hitch and This Is The End as the kind he’d like to focus on.

    “These were dramas and comedies for sophisticated audiences that gave us the chance to work with high-quality filmmakers, and they made money,” Belgrad said. “There is great gratification in those films, and you can have more autonomy and independence creatively because the fate of the studio doesn’t hang in the balance. They were economically attractive then and they are becoming more so. Don’t get me wrong. Tentpoles are important; every studio needs those billion-dollar-grossing movie. I had a breather where I got to think about what I want to be and who I want to be in business with, and I have a good sense of that now and that is what I want to roll into 2.0.”

    When Belgrad exited, Sony chief Tom Rothman told Deadline he intended for Belgrad to become a key supplier and was incentivized to get him started. Sony has helped get 2.0 off the ground by bringing Belgrad in as financier and in some cases producer on key films on the studio slate, most of which Belgrad helped initiate while president.

    “Peter Rabbit is the movie Will Gluck will direct, with Animal Logic deep into character development and animatics in Australia, and the live-action shoot starting early next year,” Belgrad said. “Zombieland was one that Matt Tolmach supervised, but producer Gavin Polone, Ruben Fleischer and I have tried to figure out a sequel for the last four years, one that pleases Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin. Wernick & Reese, who did the original before they did Deadpool, came back and polished a script that Dave Callaham wrote and Mike White and Oren Uziel did passes on. It’s very encouraging.” Belgrad won’t produce this, just co-finance.

    Bad Boys 3 brings him back to a franchise from his formative years at the studio. “I was fortunate to be the creative exec on the first one early in my career, with Simpson and Bruckheimer and a movie that really broke Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as big feature stars,” Belgrad said. The film, to be directed by Joe Carnahan, is on track to begin production after Smith completes the David Ayer-directed Bright for Netflix. “The script reinvigorates in a smart way a quintessential action comedy franchise,” Belgrad said.

    It’s unclear if he’ll be a producer on that one but he will join Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman and Elizabeth Cantillon as producer on Charlie’s Angels, the reboot which Banks will direct. He’ll also be a producer on Mulan, a live-action film that Jason Keller is writing, based on the Chinese myth of the female warrior who disguises herself as a man. “The plan is to shoot predominantly or exclusively in China with a Chinese partner and a mostly Chinese cast,” Belgrad said. “It’s a Hollywood movie made for the world, but which we think will have immense appeal in China.”

    He will join Jennifer Klein and Liman’s Hypnotic partner Dave Bartis in producing Mallory, a Sheldon Turner-scripted adaption of the Jeffrey Archer book Paths Of Glory.

    Shepherding the projects will be Cassidy, who was a development exec at Summit and worked on acquisitions like The Hurt Locker and Fair Game, and homegrown projects like The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, before she was brought into Open Road by Tom Ortenberg. At Open Road she has been SVP Production and Acquisitions, overseeing films including Mother’s Day, Nightcrawler, Dope and Spotlight as well as Oliver Stone’s Snowden, which plays the Toronto Film Festival.

    “I met Sophie when she was Scott Greenberg’s assistant and was impressed by her taste and sensibilities,” Belgrad said. “She will help spearhead our activity in television, as well.”
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    Kristen...what? No.

    I actually like Kristen despite her Twilight stint. I'm not sure why. Nevertheless, I think she'd be a poor choice for this film. I could see Lupita in this however.

    You wanna know who would be good? Margot Robbie.

    Kristen Stewart Eyed for ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Reboot (EXCLUSIVE)
    By Brent Lang and Justin Kroll


    CREDIT: SEBASTIEN NOGIER/EPA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

    Kristen Stewart is being eyed for the “Charlie’s Angels” reboot, according to sources close to the project.

    The “Twilight” star would play one of the members of the female private detective agency. Stewart’s is not the only name being considered. Casting is under way, and Sony, the studio behind the film, is also interested in several other big names, including Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o.

    Elizabeth Banks, who scored with “Pitch Perfect 2,” is directing the film. It’s slated for a summer 2019 release, and Sony clearly has franchise hopes for the project. Banks, Elizabeth Cantillon and Max Handelman will produce.

    Stewart has focused largely on indie fare in recent years, earning raves for her work in “Still Alice,” “Cafe Society,” and “Personal Shopper.” She hasn’t headlined a major studio tentpole film since “Snow White and the Hunstman” in 2010. She will appear in Fox’s “Underwater,” which centers on a crew of underwater researchers scrambling with the fallout from an earthquake.

    “Charlie’s Angels” first came to public attention during its five-season run on ABC from September 22, 1976 to June 24, 1981. It was later given the big screen treatment in 2000, with Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu playing the Angels. That film was a major hit, earning $264.1 million. A sequel, 2003’s “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” disappointed at the domestic box office, but got a lift from overseas crowds, topping out at $259.2 million globally.

    Stewart is represented by The Gersh Agency. A spokesperson for Sony declined to comment.
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    Naomi Scott & Ella Balinska

    There's an embedded link if you don't know who Naomi Scott or Ella Balinska is.

    JULY 26, 2018 10:00am PT by Borys Kit
    'Charlie's Angels' Reboot: Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska Join Kristen Stewart

    Elizabeth Banks, who is directing the crime adventure, will take on the role of Bosley.

    Charlie and Sony have found their Angels.

    Naomi Scott, who stars as Jasmine in Disney's upcoming Aladdin remake, and British newcomer Ella Balinska are set to join Kristen Stewart in the studio's new Charlie's Angels reboot.

    Elizabeth Banks, who is directing the project, will also take a role in front of the camera: She will play Bosley, the face of the enigmatic and never-seen owner of the detective agency, Charlie Townsend.

    The new story takes the detective agency premise of the original 1976-1981 TV series and 2000 and 2003 movies global, with the Townsend Agency now a worldwide security and intelligence service that has teams around the world. The movie will focus on one of those teams and the next generation of Angels.

    "Charlie's Angels, for me, is one of the original brands to celebrate the empowered woman since its debut in the '70s," Banks said Thursday in a statement. "This film honors the legacy of Charles Townsend and his agency while introducing a new era of modern and global Angels. I couldn't be more excited to work with Kristen, Naomi and Ella to bring this chapter to fans around the world."

    The new project has Banks' imprint on all levels. In addition to being in front and behind the camera, Banks wrote the latest draft of the script with Jay Basu (The Girl in the Spider's Web), working off of earlier drafts by Craig Mazin and Semi Chellas.

    Banks is also producing the project with husband Max Handelman via their Brownstone Productions banner, as well as Doug Belgrad, who is co-financing through his 2.0 Entertainment, and Elizabeth Cantillon.

    Sony has set a Sept. 27, 2019, release.

    British-born Scott appeared on TV's Terra Nova and starred in 2017's live-action Power Rangers movie before nabbing the high-profile role of Jasmine in Aladdin. That film, directed by Guy Ritchie, is slated to open May 24, 2019. Scott is repped by WME, Echo Lake Entertainment and Sloane Offer.

    Charlie's Angels will be a big break for Balinska, who has only appeared in two television projects, including an episode of the U.K.'s long-running series Midsomer Murders, as well as the indie film A Modern Tale. She is repped by UTA and Identity Agency Group.

    Banks, who will be seen in The Happytime Murders and heard in Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, last directed the hit Pitch Perfect 2. She is repped by UTA, Untitled Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.
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    November 1, 2019

    Charlie's Angels Movie Reboot Cast, Release Date and Everything to Know
    Elizabeth Banks is directing a Charlie's Angels reboot movie, which is scheduled to arrive in 2019.


    Charlie's Angels cast: Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska and Kristen Stewart
    NEWS
    Mike Cecchini
    Joseph Baxter
    Feb 7, 2019

    So, perhaps the Charlie's Angels movies are a bit dated now. The first one was good fun, but the second is best forgotten.

    However, the core concept — three badass detectives working for a mysterious billionaire — seems like it could work in any setting. It worked for five seasons on ABC in the late '70s, after all. (We don't speak of the more recent TV reboot attempt...)

    And with Elizabeth Banks in the director's chair for a new Charlie's Angels movie, perhaps things will be a little less frenetic this time around.

    In the latest Charlie's Angels news...

    A glimpse of the Charlie’s Angels reboot set has surfaced in a tweet from Elizabeth Banks, the film's director and cast member who's playing one of multiple manifestations of the classic Bosley character (with Patrick Stewart playing one of the others). Touting #4PercentChallenge – designed to persuade Hollywood to hire more female directors – Banks has posted an on-set image of herself standing with the reboot's new Angels, Ella Balinska, Kristen Stewart and Naomi Scott, seemingly teasing a covert op at a fancy party.

    View image on Twitter


    Elizabeth Banks

    @ElizabethBanks
    #BTS @CharliesAngels on set. Ella, Kristen, Naomi. #4PercentChallenge ✔️

    2,046
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    Charlie's Angel Movie Reboot Release Date
    Charlie's Angels is now scheduled to arrive on November 1, 2019.

    The new release date represents a five-week shift from its previous slot on September 27, 2019. The move occurs after Warner Bros. made the decision to move the highly-anticipated DC sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, from its long-held November 1, 2019 slot to June 5, 2020.

    Interestingly, Charlie's Angels was originally slotted for June 7, 2019 before its move to September.

    Charlie’s Angels Reboot Cast

    Your new Angels have been officially assembled!

    The Charlie’s Angels reboot movie has completed its titular trio, ready to ravage crime across the globe at the behest of a fancy speakerphone. Pictured in the main image left to right, they will consist of...

    Naomi Scott, a London-born actress, just played the Pink Ranger in the 2017 Power Rangers movie, and is about to bank another reboot as one of the Angels. Of course, Scott’s upcoming reboot cred doesn’t stop there, since she’s playing the role of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s 2019-scheduled Aladdin live-action movie, opposite star Mena Massoud.

    Ella Balinska, also London-born, nabs a potential breakthrough role here. This will only serve as the second feature film appearance for Balinksa, a newcomer, who previously appeared in the 2017 U.K. thriller, A Modern Tale, with TV guest spots banked on Midsomer Murders and Casualty.

    Kristen Stewart was the first of the new Angels to board the movie, way back in September of 2017, as Variety reported. The Twilight film franchise’s wannabe vampire and star of Snow White and the Huntress and The Clouds of Sils Maria – now reinvented as an indie favorite – will join Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska as director Elizabeth Banks’s new trio of movie Angels.

    As Banks lauds in a statement:

    “Charlie’s Angels, for me, is one of the original brands to celebrate the empowered woman since its debut in the '70s. This film honors the legacy of Charles Townsend and his agency while introducing a new era of modern and global Angels. I couldn’t be more excited to work with Kristen, Naomi and Ella to bring this chapter to fans around the world.”



    The reboot has also cast none other than Sir Patrick Stewart as one of at least two Bosleys. More on that here.



    Sam Claflin has joined the Charlie's Angels reboot cast, as reported by Variety. While details about Claflin’s character were not revealed, his casting will serve as a mini reunion of sorts for The Hunger Games films, since he played enigmatic winner-turned-rebel Finnick Odair, and director Elizabeth Banks famously played the sartorially-eccentric games escort, Effie Trinket. Claflin recently co-starred in thriller The Nightingale and co-starred in rescue drama Adrift alongside fellow-YA-movie-genre alumna Shailene Woodley. He also appeared in war drama Journey’s End and mystery movie My Cousin Rachel and WWII-era dramedy Their Finest.

    Director Banks co-wrote the screenplay with Jay Basu (The Girl in the Spider's Web), working off drafts by Craig Mazin and Semi Chellas. At one point, it was set to be re-written by rewritten by Doug Miro and Carlos Bernard (Narcos).

    According to the 2017 Variety article, Sony was interested in casting Lupita Nyong'o in one of the main roles, which would have been a great decision. Additionally, according to The Tracking Board, the studio was hoping to land Janelle Monae as one of the leads at one point.

    Here's the original TV show's opening credits.



    Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.
    By chance, I caught some of the 2000 reboot on TV last week as I was folding laundry. Man, that's bad. Bill Murray is great in it though. He saves so much of it.
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    CHARLIE'S ANGELS - Official Trailer (HD)

    Gene Ching
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    Our latest fight-focused film reviews

    Female-Strong Friday! Two Fight-focused film reviews!

    Female-Strong Friday #1! READ THE WARRIOR QUEEN OF JHANSI: Furious Female Freedom Fighter by Gene Ching



    Female-Strong Friday #2! READ CHARLIE’S ANGELS: Female-Strong and Woke by Gene Ching




    THREADS
    The Warrior Queen of Jhansi
    Charlie's Angels
    Gene Ching
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    Banks has a point...

    ...but it flopped anyway.
    Elizabeth Banks on Charlie's Angels reboot criticism: 'You've had 37 Spider-Man movies'
    By Sydney Bucksbaum November 16, 2019 at 03:35 PM EST


    TAYLOR HILL/WIREIMAGE
    Charlie's Angels (2019) 09/27/19
    TYPE Movie
    GENRE Action Adventure, Comedy

    In the age of reboots, revivals, and sequels, Elizabeth Banks wants to know why people are criticizing her for creating another chapter in the Charlie’s Angels franchise.

    In a recent profile in WSJ Magazine, the Charlie’s Angels writer/director/star responded to the criticism she’s been facing for rebooting the franchise with Kristen Stewart, Ella Balinska, and Naomi Scott. “You’ve had 37 Spider-Man movies and you’re not complaining!” Banks says. “I think women are allowed to have one or two action franchises every 17 years — I feel totally fine with that.”

    Charlie’s Angels stars Stewart, Balinska, and Scott as three new angel operatives, while Banks plays a former angel turned Bosley (which is now a rank in the Townsend Agency organization rather than the name of one person). And Banks gave some insight on why Stewart has returned to a mainstream movie franchise after sticking to indie films for so long post-Twilight.

    “Being in a big franchise allows you to have it all,” Banks says. “I recognize the same thing, it’s almost unfair for women. The best roles are usually in small movies, but then you don’t make any money. It’s okay to want to make money.”

    Charlie’s Angels is now playing in theaters.
    wait...37? srsly?

    And no Warcraft Redemption...
    FILM ASIANOVEMBER 18, 2019 2:31AM PT
    China Box Office: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Kept Earthbound by Local Romcom
    By REBECCA DAVIS


    CREDIT: NADJA KLIER

    The new “Charlie’s Angels” reboot was no match for a local romantic comedy or a 20-year-old Giuseppe Tornatore film at the Chinese box office, bringing in just $7.6 million in its debut weekend, according to figures from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

    Directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska, the film has had a lackluster start, with China’s day-and-date release failing to provide much of a boost to its $8.6 million three-day gross in the U.S. This installment of the franchise continues the story told in the 1970s TV show and two previous films, 2000’s “Charlie’s Angels” and 2003’s “Charlie Angels: Full Throttle,” none of which was ever popular in the mainland. According to ticketing platform Maoyan, the latter movie received some sort of China release in 2003 that netted it just $2 million.

    The fault clearly didn’t lie with Chinese audiences being impervious to nostalgia. In a surprise upset, a 4K version of Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1998 film “The Legend of 1900” beat “Charile’s Angels” with a $9.2 million “debut” weekend. Although it came out decades ago, Tornatore’s first English-language film had never formally made it into Chinese theaters. It is now the first work by the Italian helmer to hit the country, where audiences have long loved his “Cinema Paradiso.”

    Releasing old classics that never had a wide Chinese theatrical release is a trick that’s yielded box office success a couple of times already in the past year, notably for Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 film “Spirited Away,” which grossed $69 million in June,” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” which earned $25 million last December, 25 years after its debut.

    However, most viewers this weekend put their money on something new. The Chinese romantic drama “Somewhere Winter” proved the top earner with a modest $13 million debut. The movie was written by novelist and screenwriter Rao Xueman based on one of her popular young adult novels, which itself keyed off a 1980s song by Taiwanese singer Chyi Chin. A story of love across two generations and between three cities, it was filmed in Beijing, Taipei and Los Angeles.

    It was helmed by Taiwan’s Wang Weiming, whose last film, 2014’s “Sex Appeal,” grossed just $2.4 million (RMB16.6 million) in China, and stars Taiwanese actor Wallace Huo Chien-hwa and Sandra Ma Sichun. The two are extremely popular as an on-screen couple from their chemistry in the 2015 Chinese TV series “Love Me If You Dare.” Two posters, both closeups of the couple’s faces as they gaze longingly at each other, capture the vibe of their reunion in the new film: in one they’re all smiles; in the other they choke back dramatic tears.

    The movie hits just before Taiwan and mainland China are set to face off over rival film award ceremonies, with Taipei’s Golden Horse Awards and Xiamen’s Golden Rooster Awards both scheduled to take place Saturday.

    The shadow of the Golden Horse Awards looms rather large at the mainland box office this weekend, as it helped shoot both Ma and then-co-star Zhou Dongyu to stardom by acknowledging their breakout roles in the 2016 Derek Tsang-directed film “Soul Mate” with a shared best actress award that year.

    Tsang’s latest film, “Better Days,” the youth drama about schoolyard bullying, marks his second collaboration with Zhou. It remained fourth at the box office this weekend after nearly a month in theaters with ticket sales of $7.3 million, bringing bringing its cumulative box office up to $212 million – more than what “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” earned in China, and more than four times what “Terminator: Dark Fate” took in. (Ranking ninth at the box office as of Monday afternoon, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring flick has grossed $49 million in China since the beginning of the month.)

    In fifth was Roland Emmerich’s World War II blockbuster “Midway.” Nearly half-financed by Chinese money and one of the most expensive independent films ever made with a budget of $98 million, it grossed just $6.9 million in China this weekend for a cumulative gross of $30.4 million – a bit less than its U.S. earnings of $35 million so far.
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    It's men's fault this flopped.

    I was half anticipating this might flop mostly because it lacked star power. Now it's become somewhat of a touchstone for female-led films. Bank's comments are getting short-sheeted by a lot of news outlets but what she's saying is a tad complex. Personally, I think the point here is that this film is gleaning more attention for flopping than some of the other recent flops.

    Elizabeth Banks Says ‘Captain Marvel,’ ‘Wonder Woman’ Were Hits Because They Belong to ‘Male Genre’
    The new "Charlie's Angeles" couldn't even crack the $9 million mark at the box office over its opening weekend.
    Zack Sharf
    Nov 18, 2019 9:46 am
    @zsharf


    Warner Bros.

    The well-reviewed “Charlie’s Angels” reboot is the latest studio box office bomb of the fall movie season, following in the footsteps of such disasters as “The Goldfinch,” “Gemini Man,” “Motherless Brooklyn,” and “Terminator: Dark Fate.” The Elizabeth Banks-directed action comedy failed to crack $9 million at the box office over its opening weekend. Box office tracking had “Charlie’s Angels” opening at an already-disappointing $10 million, but the final total came in well below that low mark. IndieWire’s box office expert Tom Brueggemann says the film “will be a significant loss” for Sony this season.

    Prior to the movie’s disastrous opening weekend, Banks gave an interview to the Herald Sun that is now proving to be somewhat controversial. The filmmaker, who also wrote and produced “Charlie’s Angels” and stars in the movie as Bosley, called out a potential box office bomb as being sexist. “Look, people have to buy tickets to this movie, too. This movie has to make money,” she said. “If this movie doesn’t make money it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don’t go see women do action movies.”

    As some moviegoers were quick to point out on social media, “Charlie’s Angels” bombing doesn’t exactly prove men will not go pay to see an action movie driven by women. Earlier this year, the Brie Larson-starring “Captain Marvel” grossed $426 million in the U.S. and over $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. “Wonder Women” ended its summer 2017 run with $821 million worldwide. But Banks says these female-fronted comic book films are still tied to a large male genre.

    “They’ll go and see a comic book movie with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel because that’s a male genre,” Banks told the Sun. “So even though those are movies about women, they put them in the context of feeding the larger comic book world, so it’s all about, yes, you’re watching a Wonder Woman movie but we’re setting up three other characters or we’re setting up ‘Justice League.’”

    “By the way, I’m happy for those characters to have box office success,” Banks adds, “but we need more women’s voices supported with money because that’s the power. The power is in the money.”

    In a second interview before the film’s opening weekend with the Wall Street Journal, Banks defended her decision to make another “Charlie’s Angels” movie. The last “Charlie’s Angels” films starred Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu and were released in 2000 and 2003. Banks’ “Angels” stars Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska.

    “You’ve had 37 Spider-Man movies and you’re not complaining!” Banks said. “I think women are allowed to have one or two action franchises every 17 years — I feel totally fine with that.”

    Banks added she was interested in launching a big franchise driven by women characters because that’s often not the case in Hollywood. “Being in a big franchise allows you to have it all,” she said. “I recognize the same thing, it’s almost unfair for women. The best roles are usually in small movies, but then you don’t make any money. It’s okay to want to make money.”

    When IndieWire recently asked Banks if she was concerned about if she was concerned about the reaction of trolls who might balk at her feminist-leaning action movie, she was succinct. “‘Charlie’s Angels’ has always been about women, and the DNA of it is about women working together on this team,” she said. “We are not treading in a male space. I think that’s one of the big differences between these two things. I don’t know, I’m less concerned about that. Of course, those trolls are horrifying, but you know, I challenge them to get up and make a ****ing movie action movie. I welcome any of them into my realm.”

    With its $8.6 million opening, it’s unlikely “Charlie’s Angels” is the franchise-starter Banks envisioned. The film is now playing nationwide.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #11
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    Of course, Elizabeth Banks can always blame her movie’s box-office failure on men, but her argument comes across as pathetic. Maybe it isn’t so much that it’s a female-led movie so much as not enough people caring to see another Charlie’s Angels reboot.

  12. #12
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    Given Charlie's Angels results and Banks' comments, this is ironic

    NOVEMBER 26, 2019 11:30AM PT
    Elizabeth Banks to Direct, Star in ‘Invisible Woman’ for Universal

    By JUSTIN KROLL
    Film Reporter
    @https://twitter.com/krolljvar


    CREDIT: JOEL C RYAN/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

    Elizabeth Banks is set to direct and star in “Invisible Woman” for Universal, which is based on her own original pitch.

    “The Girl on the Train” scribe Erin Cressida Wilson penned the script with Banks and Max Handelman producing for their Brownstone Productions. Brownstone’s Alison Small will executive produce.

    Plot details are being kept under wraps, but sources say Banks’ pitch is very different from the “Invisible Man” film coming out in February that stars Elisabeth Moss, and there is no crossover potential on either film.

    The news follows the announcement that “Rocketman” director Dexter Fletcher is helming “Renfield,” which is a new take on Dracula’s henchman and, like “Invisible Woman,” fits into a new strategy Universal is taking when it comes to its IP. The studio had originally planned on creating an interconnected universe with its vast catalog of monster IP. However, the studio reassessed, and decided to move forward with filmmaker-driven projects based on the monsters’ legacies, focusing on what made the characters endure over time. Instead of prescribing a mandate that the films be part of a larger scheme, Universal loosened those restrictions and open-sourced to filmmakers to create their own unique stories.

    As for Banks, the multi-hyphenate has strong ties to the studio after directing “Pitch Perfect 2.” She most recently directed the “Charlie’s Angels” reboot for Sony, in which she also appears as one of the Bosleys.

    Banks and Brownstone Productions are represented by UTA, Untitled Entertainment, Relevant and Ziffren Brittenham. Wilson is represented by Art/Work Entertainment and Schreck Rose Dapello & Adams.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    Of course, Elizabeth Banks can always blame her movie’s box-office failure on men, but her argument comes across as pathetic. Maybe it isn’t so much that it’s a female-led movie so much as not enough people caring to see another Charlie’s Angels reboot.
    It's actually not that bad of a film. I was entertained (but then I'm pretty easily entertained). Mind you, it's not a great film by any means, but I thought what Banks was trying to do with the franchise was interesting. I think it's failure was more about the cast. Kristen has so much stigma about her - and ironically she's good in this - and the other gals were unknown. If this had the cast of, well, of Bombshell, it would have been more of a success.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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