‘Charlie’s Angels’ First Look At The New Team And The Updated Universe

A new Charlie’s Angels reboot is on the way, with Elizabeth Banks directing an all-new team of women. In an interview, Banks breaks down the new movie, its universe, and how she updated the franchise. She also passed along some images of the new team, covered by Entertainment Weekly.

Charlie’s Angels was a television series from the 70s that saw a trio of women — famously played by Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith — as globetrotting secret spies who had unique adventures and saved the world. The Angels were recruited and given their missions through a voice, Charlie, on the other end of a speakerphone. The franchise showcased a premise of strong independent women, which was unique at the time.

The franchise got the cinematic reboot treatment by director McG (Terminator: Salvation), with a brand new cast of Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore. This 2000 film took the totally different approach of launching an action-comedy franchise. The hyper-stylized movies featured an emphasis on over-the-top action, sexuality, and silliness that had mixed reactions, as seen in this Variety review.

The new Charlie’s Angels will try a different approach, especially being set post-MeToo. The female-driver action franchise will be doing things that are different from the typical female movies audiences are used to, as per Banks.

The new Charlie’s Angels will see Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska in a more grounded and reality driven film by comparison. The Entertainment Weekly report sees the new cast in action, in brand new stills from the movie.

The director claims to be making quite a few changes to the Charlie’s Angel universe, something which she discusses in the interview.

“All of the Angels have been played by different women and have had different names, but the Bosley character was always named Bosley no matter who played him. We thought, ‘Well, that must mean it’s more than a name.'”

The new film will see Banks, Patrick Stewart, and Djimon Hounsou all portraying the role of a Bosley. While the two rebooted Charlie’s Angels movies were directed by a man, this would be the first feature film of the franchise to be directed by a woman. Banks is very aware of this, and discusses how the film will be supportive of women — without playing to stereotypes.

“It was important to me to make a movie about women working together and supporting each other, and not make a movie about their romantic entanglements or their mother they don’t call enough. When I’m at work, I don’t talk about those things. I get on with my job. It felt important to do that for the Angels, to treat them with the respect their skill set demands.”

In the Entertainment Weekly story, Banks also discusses how grounded the action of the new movie will be, taking inspiration from the Mission: Impossible series.

Charlie’s Angels is set to release on November 15.