When the Charlie’s Angels reboot landed with a thud at the box office back in 2019 after opening with a weak $8 million, director Elizabeth Banks instantly went on the defensive.
She blamed moviegoers at first saying they’d rather go and see Spider-Man 37 instead of an action comedy with three female leads, and then ignored the massive success of Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman by saying they occupied a male genre, so didn’t count as blockbusters spearheaded by women.
Banks then said the people who did see it loved the movie, but at least there’s merit to that statement since Charlie’s Angels boasts an audience rating of 78%, much higher than the 52% it was awarded by critics. The reboot couldn’t even reach $18 million domestically by the end of its run, and topped out with less than $75 million globally.
Star Kristen Stewart admitted her disappointment at watching something she’d enjoyed making so much go down in flames, but her performance is arguably the highlight of the entire endeavor, so she doesn’t deserve any of the flak. Charlie’s Angels isn’t a bad film by any means, it’s just a largely redundant one that didn’t have much to say.
That being said, it’s been making some serious moves on the Netflix most-watched list, having reached as high as thirteenth position, and it may even have designs on the Top 10 over the coming days. Disposable B-tier genre efforts always tend to play well with the platform’s subscriber base, and Charlie’s Angels ticks an awful lot of those boxes.
Solid and functional rather than must-see and spectacular, the fact nobody was crying out for another reboot of the classic TV show shouldn’t have made its poor theatrical performance a surprise.