It’s probably fair to say that it’s been a difficult few weeks for Elizabeth Banks, with Charlie’s Angels struggling at the box office, and the writer-director coming in for criticism for blaming the film’s failure on various divisive factors. Banks has put the fault at everything from male audiences to poor marketing by Sony, although it’s more likely the movie is suffering from a lack of interest in the franchise.
Banks is starting to look on the bright side, though, at least in the case of two sold-out screenings in her hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The actress took the time to praise her town on Twitter this week for coming out in force to support Charlie’s Angels, remarking as so:
I heard #CharliesAngels sold out both shows tonight in my hometown of #Pittsfield and I just wanted to send ya’ll love and gratitude 🙏🏻 ❤️
— Elizabeth Banks ❄️ (@ElizabethBanks) November 24, 2019
Sure, it may be a silver lining on an otherwise-disastrous few weeks for the film, but at least Banks is able to take a break from the criticism that’s recently been piling up. To be fair to her, she’s clearly invested in the franchise, and is proud of the work of her cast and crew. Indeed, she’s claimed that everyone who’s actually seen Charlie’s Angels enjoyed it, while it hasn’t fared too badly with critics.
In our opinion, it’s probably best for Banks to take the approach of Terminator: Dark Fate director Tim Miller in admitting the various behind-the-scenes problems with the movie, and the difficulty of doing something new with a well-established franchise. As it is, the current back-and-forth between Banks and her critics isn’t likely to boost the appeal of Charlie’s Angels with audiences, and may just damage her ability to take on future studio projects.
For now, Sony and Banks will be hoping that Charlie’s Angels can claw back more of its production budget in a year where the studio have already suffered the box office bomb of Men in Black: International, another attempted franchise restarter that audiences just didn’t warm to. Of course, Sony still has Jumanji: The Next Level ready to go, as well as Bad Boys for Life in January, so we’d expect things to look a bit brighter for them by early 2020.
