Charlie’s Angels opened this past weekend and—judging by box office receipts—was a disappointment, earning only $8 million back out of its approximately $40 million budget. (The critics didn’t love it either, giving the film a 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes.)
Only a few days ago on November 14, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Charlie’s Angels writer-director Elizabeth Banks, who was pretty hopeful pre-release, pointing out that she had previously “made a franchise from nothing [Pitch Perfect 2], which serviced the women and girls I’m hoping also want to see a Charlie’s Angels movie. I’m building on my business always. This seems like a natural step in that business plan.”
To those who pointed to the possible futility of another Charlie’s Angels movie, based on a long-ago 1970s TV show and the subject of two previous movies in the 2000s, as well as a failed TV series in 2011, Banks had the following response: “You’ve had 37 Spider-Man movies and you’re not complaining!… I think women are allowed to have one or two action franchises every 17 years—I feel totally fine with that.” Unfortunately, despite Banks’ attempt to make Charlie’s Angels a production that “relies more on classic espionage drama,” according to WSJ, it doesn’t look like this will be the film to kick off a brand-new action franchise. At least Wonder Woman 1984 is headed our way this summer.