Trivia / Charlie's Angels (2019)

• Billing Displacement: Kristen Stewart (Sabina) gets top billing despite her character being more of a supporting type; of the three leads, she's the most well-known.
• Blooper: When Sabina, Elana, Jane, and Bosley are going over information on Flemming, Sabina (Kristen Stewart) is laying on a couch in bare feet, with her shoes sitting by the couch. However, when everyone gets up to leave, Sabina suddenly has her shoes back on, but when the film cuts back to the wide shot, her shoes are seen back by the couch.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $48 million. Box office, $17.8 million (domestic), $73.2 million (worldwide). Writer/producer/director/co-star Elizabeth Banks' continuation of both the 70's TV series and the film duology from the early 2000s received middling reviews and had a disastrous opening weekend of a mere $8.3 million, getting run over by Ford V Ferrari and was also sunk by Midway (2019). Banks later lampshaded on social media that even though she made a box office bomb, she at least did it with a movie where her name is on the poster three times.
• Breakaway Pop Hit: Despite receiving a lukewarm reception from critics, the single "Don't Call Me Angel" — a collaboration between Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey — enjoyed far more commercial success than this film.
• Cameo Prop: The blue race car uniform and German outfit from the first movie appear in the closet.
• The Character Died with Him: John Bosley mentions that Charlie has died, referring to John Forsythe, who voiced the aforementioned character in the original series and passed away in 2010 at age 92.
• Copiously Credited Creator: Elizabeth Banks wrote, directed, co-produced and played Rebecca Bosley. When the film underperformed, she quipped that when if you're gonna make a bomb, make sure your name's on it four times.
• Creator Backlash: In a 2024 Variety piece, Kristen Stewart said point-blank that she didn't enjoy working on this movie.
  "I hated making that movie. I don’t know what else to say to you. Honestly, the three [from the original film]…you can’t touch [that]. Cameron, Lucy and Drew…I love that movie. I love that movie! If that says anything."
• Dear Negative Reader: Prior to the film's opening weekend, Elizabeth Banks stated, "If this movie doesn't make money it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don't go see women do action movies." Never mind the fact men flocked to the previous two Charlie's Angels movies. Banks' attitude hurt things even further when it was pointed out to her that Wonder Woman (2017) and Captain Marvel (2019) (both huge box office hits) had men going to see them in droves. She dismissed both, saying they didn’t count because they were part of a larger scope of films that she referred to as a "male genre". Not surprisingly, this ended up angering not only comic book fans, but people involved in both films, causing her to apologize.
• Fake American: Englishwoman Naomi Scott plays the American Elena Houglin.
• No Stunt Double: Ella Balinska did most of her own stunts.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Sabina is heavily implied to be lesbian or bi (the director has confirmed that she's gay). Kristen Stewart, who plays her, is openly bisexual.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Kristen Stewart as Sabina is an interesting example. Her Boisterous Bruiser ladette personality contrasts with the more quiet and introverted characters she's known for but is much closer to her real-life persona known to her loyal fans.
  • Sam Claflin isn't usually known for portraying a Psychopathic Manchild Corrupt Corporate Executive.
• Star-Derailing Role: Naomi Scott had been getting something of a push with Power Rangers (2017) and Aladdin (2019). The film's failure at the Box Office saw her not appearing in a major role until 2022's Anatomy of a Scandal. Kristen Stewart's career escaped unscathed however, as she got an Oscar nomination for Spencer only a couple of years later.
• Troubled Production: Deadline, among other publications, had a post-mortem after the film's disastrous opening weekend that outlined a project dead on arrival. Although the film's actual shoot went off without a hitch, issues abound before and after production:
  • It was not lost on critics and audiences that this film lacked the star power of the 2000s films, which featured two of the biggest actresses on the planet in the prime of their careers (comparatively, Kristen Stewart, the biggest name among the Angels here, had mostly stuck to arthouse films in the seven years since Twilight ended and has been an unproven box office draw on her own). This was because every big-name actress Sony took the script to (see What Could Have Been) turned down the film, leaving the studio with no real star power for their big revival. Despite the unattractive script, Sony believed in Elizabeth Banks' spin on the property and eventually landed on their final leads, hoping the property could make the stars as opposed to the stars making the property.
  • When it came time for the marketing push, Sony solely focused on the young female audience, realizing that a less sexualized, pro-feminist take on the series would probably alienate male viewers. However, the potential under-25 audience had no nostalgic ties to the property, considering the first film came out 19 years prior, and the series decades prior. Despite a dream-team trio for the official soundtrack single, buzz on social media for the film was almost non-existent, exasperated by Stewart's lack of social media presence, unable to push the film to fans in ways Dwayne Johnson and Will Smith can with their star vehicles.
  • When the industry projections started ticking down from an initial $30 million opening weekend take to $15-20 million due to the lack of interest, Sony slashed half of the movie's planned marketing budget, sensing sunk cost. The lack of strong marketing, now whittled down to mostly fifteen-second television spots, further pushed down tracking into the mid-teens, and then the film didn't even clear that upon release.
  • Finally, as if all that weren’t bad enough, as mentioned above, director/co-producer/co-star Elizabeth Banks seemed dead set on making sure whatever potential male audience the film could have had was gone. While promoting the film, she talked about how it was “a kickass action film for women that doesn’t concern men” and that, if it failed, it proved that men won’t go see an action movie starring women. Sure enough, it was a disaster both critically and commercially. When this happened, Banks claimed it was proof that sexism destroyed the movie. It was then pointed out to her that Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were kickass action movies starring women that had men going to see it in droves. Digging herself even deeper, Banks then said they didn’t count because they were part of a bigger scope of films. This not only angered DC AND Marvel fans (quite a feat in itself), but also actual people involved in making those films. Banks would ultimately apologize for her remarks regarding the movies, stating that she wished it could have just been marketed as an action movie, blaming the studio on wanting to promote it as "some feminist manifesto".
• What Could Have Been: Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong'o, Margot Robbie and Emma Stone turned down roles in the film.
• Word of Gay: Elizabeth Banks has confirmed Sabina's gay. She and Kristen Stewart felt it was important to show, as Stewart previously had been told not to be too "public" about being bisexual for her career (however, it was still only an implied sexuality).

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