“Charlie’s Angels” is set to land in China on Nov. 15.
The new movie iteration of the 1970s TV show stars Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinksa as the three gun-toting, karate-chopping investigators sent on dangerous missions by the mysterious Charles Townsend, whose private detection firm now has branches around the world. Elizabeth Banks directs.
The Sony Pictures movie will hit mainland Chinese theaters day and date with its U.S. release.
The last “Angels” film, 2003’s “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” grossed a little more than $2 million in China. There are now tens of thousands more screens in the Middle Kingdom, which has become the world’s second-largest movie market.
However, none of the new film’s three main stars is of Chinese descent, as was Lucy Liu. Whether that will have any effect on its reception in China remains to be seen.
Banks is the first woman to take charge of the “Charlie’s Angels” IP, whether on the small or big screens. In addition to directing, she wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Auburn. She also appears in the film, alongside actors Djimon Hounsou, Sam Claflin, Noah Centineo and Patrick Stewart.
The film is produced by Banks, Doug Belgrad, Elizabeth Cantillon and Max Handelman. Executive Producers are Matthew Hirsch, Leonard Goldberg, Nancy Juvonen and Drew Barrymore, who starred in the previous “Charlie’s Angels” movies.