CHARLIE’S ANGELS

LOOK WHO’S BACK IN BUSINESS! THE NEW ANGELS HAVE ANSWERED CHARLIE’S CALL – AND WHO HAS A SNEAK PEEK AT THEIR LATEST MISSION

Charles Townsend, the titular Charlie of Charlie’s Angels, has turned the Townsend Agency into heaven on Earth. No, really – in director Elizabeth Banks’ upcoming take on the elite all-women crime-fighting team, the camera-shy millionaire doling out missions has become – by conservative estimate – a gazillionaire.

It’s only logical. As Banks puts it, her update (in cinemas on Thu., Nov. 14) isn’t a reboot or a remake of the beloved franchise, but rather a “continuation” that incorporates the events of the original 1970s TV series and the McG-directed 2000s films. And so, she imagines, in the more than 40 years since Charlie assembled his first trio of Angels, he must have given his operation a makeover. “If you were rich in 1976, you only got richer,” Banks, who co-wrote the script, says with a laugh. “Charles Townsend is richer than ever, so he’s grown the business into a global spy agency.”

His expanded roster includes the crew at the centre of

Banks’ story: Sabina Wilson (Kristen Stewart), the hardpartying, highly skilled wildcard; Jane Kano (Ella Balinska), the ex-MI6 muscle of the group; and Elena Houghlin (Aladdin’s Naomi Scott), the MIT-trained scientist who, Banks says, serves as “the heart of the movie”.

Charlie’s call takes them around the world, with stops in Istanbul, Hamburg and Berlin, but amid all the globe-trotting, Banks was most invested in showcasing the trio’s teamwork. “It was important to me to make a movie about women working together and supporting each other, and not about their romantic entanglements or their mother they don’t call enough,” she says. “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.” Judging by this first look? Mission accomplished.