Caffeinated Clint
Sony’s newest “Charlie’s Angels” has heard nothing a clicking noise with its starting motor blowing at a disastrous $8.6 million this weekend.
The revamp, starring Kirsten Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska as the Townsend Agency’s newest spies, opened 16 years after McG’s “Charlie’s Angels : Full Throttle” opened to $35.1 million.
The film, which I noted in my review is one of the most pleasant surprises of 2019, with Kristen Stewart offering up her funnest performance in years, didn’t fare any better outside of the US either.
Thing is, cinema’s biggest-attending segment seems disinterested in sequels to classic films or series right now – look at recent sequels to “Blade Runner”, “The Terminator”, “Men in Black”, “Zombieland” and “The Shining” – which is likely why “Ford vs.Ferrari” nabbed the movie dollars this weekend.
“Charlie’s Angels” filmmaker Elizabeth Banks would probably nominate another culprit.
“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,” The actress and filmmaker recently told WSJ magazine.
Look, while she definitely has a point, I believe the picture has a fatter frame — as I said, the youth market doesn’t seem too concerned in anything that isn’t a superhero film or right now, and those that are interested in nostalgia trips and originals seem to be waiting for them on Netflix. It really wasn’t much of a surprise to read that Paramount have licensed the streaming platform to make “Beverly Hills Cop 4” – it’s likely where most of its core audience would’ve watched it, anyway.
According to Deadline, Sony Pictures initially planned to spend $100m globally to promote the new “Charlie’s Angels”, but claimed that “the studio [is] now reducing that overall cost greatly to around $50m and pulling back on expensive ads” as a result of its opening weekend.
So, what does this all mean for the “Charlie’s Angels” brand?
Probably what it means for the likes of “Terminator” and “Men in Black” – a carbonite slumber for a few years.
