This year has seen several iconic franchises stumble at the box office. “Men in Black: International” seems to have killed the once-giant film franchise. “Dark Phoenix” was an embarrassing end to the two-decades-old ‘X-Men’ series. And just recently “Terminator: Dark Fate” seems to have finally killed a franchise that hasn’t been the same since 1991. The latest franchise box office disaster is “Charlie’s Angels” and it appears that filmmaker Elizabeth Banks is proudly willing to admit defeat.
After spending the last week or so in interviews defending her film and explaining why female-led action films seem to be destined to fail at the box office, Banks took to Twitter to not only say how proud she is of her latest film, “Charlie’s Angels,” which she wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, but also to admit that action flick is yet another “flop” for franchises in 2019.
“Well, if you’re going to have a flop, make sure your name is on it at least 4x. I’m proud of #CharliesAngels and happy it’s in the world,” tweeted Banks.
What’s interesting about the failure of “Charlie’s Angels” is that you can’t really compare it to the aforementioned 2019 bombs in any other way than to say they’re all franchise films. In each case, ‘Men in Black,’ ‘Terminator,’ ‘Dark Phoenix,’ and “Charlie’s Angels” seem to have all failed for a variety of unique reasons. But what is readily apparent after lumping them all together is that having big names and a franchise doesn’t necessarily guarantee box office gold.
We’ll have to see what the final story is about “Charlie’s Angels” and why it failed to kickstart a new franchise. At least, for now, it seems that it’s just the bad combination of a not-great film, an uninspired marketing campaign, an ambivalent audience, and no major stars outside of Kristen Stewart to carry the film.
If you still want to support the film, “Charlie’s Angels” is in theaters now.
Well, if you’re going to have a flop, make sure your name is on it at least 4x. I’m proud of #CharliesAngels and happy it’s in the world.
— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) November 18, 2019