'Charlie's Angels' Is Hollywood's Latest Franchise Bomb
by EG
First, sci-fi sequel Terminator: Dark Fate crashed at the box office. Then horror sequel Doctor Sleep did the same. Now, franchise reboot Charlie's Angels has had a very disappointing opening weekend. Hollywood's strategy of relying mostly on decades-old intellectual properties is starting to look like a questionable way to go. Read on for details.
Sorry, Charlie.
Ford v Ferrari easily ran Charlie's Angels and the rest of the competition off the road at the weekend box office, grossing a better-than-expected $31 million in North America for 20th Century Fox and Disney. Overseas, the pic debuted to $21.4 million for a global start of $52.4 million.
Conversely, Sony's Charlie's Angels crashed and burned in its domestic opening with an estimated $8.6 million, becoming the third high-profile reboot or sequel in a row to bomb after Terminator: Dark Fate two weeks ago and Doctor Sleep last weekend.
Elizabeth Banks: “If Charlie's Angels bombs it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don’t go see women do action movies."
— John FLICKinger (@theFLICKpick) November 17, 2019
Me: Oh, we do! Wonder Woman made 821 million dollars, it was a movie people wanted, Charlies Angles rebooted for the second time was not. https://t.co/QG0qTkTAvj
Directed by James Mangold, Ford v Ferrari — which received a coveted A+ CinemaScore and glowing reviews — is a much-needed win for the Fox film label and new owner Disney following a string of misses this year. The movie's promising debut is also a victory for adult-skewing, original event pics.
This weekend was the second weekend in a row an original movie won the box office. This weekend was Ford V Ferrari beating out Charlie's Angels.
— Joshua Ovenshire (@TheJovenshire) November 17, 2019
Terminator was a bomb, Angels not looking good either. Are we gonna see a rise in original IPs again?
Ford v Ferrari, which stars Christian Bale and Matt Damon, tells the real-life story of the two men who, in 1966, helped Henry Ford II and his Ford Motor Co. become the first American company to win Le Mans, the world's most prestigious race. Chernin Entertainment produced.
The film, which has major Oscar ambitions, cost $97 million to produce before marketing. Nearly 80 percent of ticket buyers were over the age of 25, including 55 percent over the age of 35, according to PostTrak. Males made up 62 percent of the audience.
Directed by Elizabeth Banks, Charlie's Angels wasn't able to win over younger females, its target audience, in a major way. Worse, the 'definite' recommend on PostTrak was a dismal 47 percent. The pic, starring Kirsten Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska as globe-trotting spies, opened 16 years after the big-screen sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle debuted to $37 million, not adjusted for inflation.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Did you see a new movie this weekend? Tell us which one in the comments below.