Both the forthcoming Charlie's Angels reboot and The Nightingale have been given release dates courtesy of Sony Pictures. Charlie's Angels is perhaps best remembered as a campy seventies TV show based around the spy hi-jinks of three female secret agents and their enigmatic boss, Charlie. In stark contrast, The Nightingale is a tale about two young girls attempting to survive German-occupied France in the lead up to the Second World War and is inspired by a true story.
Of course, this isn't the first time Charlie's Angels has made the transition to the big screen. A popular - if not critically lauded - interpretation hit theaters in 2000 and starred Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. A sequel followed in the shape of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle which did well financially, but failed to impress critics. The new reboot will be directed and produced by Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect) whilst The Nightingale will be directed by Michelle MacLaren of Breaking Bad fame.
Sony has now nailed down release dates for these two new features; Charlie's Angels is set to premiere on June 7th, 2019 and The Nightingale on August 10th, 2018. Interestingly, the announcement also included an as yet untitled animated project from Sony Pictures Animation that is slated for July 24th, 2020.
Naturally, these release dates could shift during the production process as the nature of the business means that delays in filming, attempts to avoid the release of other blockbusters and schedule reshuffles are all possible occurrences in the interim period. It's notable that Charlie's Angels has been given a year longer than The Nightingale and this is perhaps because of the importance in getting the right actresses involved, with the casting process likely to be crucial to the film's success. There's no word yet on what Sony's untitled animated project could be, although fans are still waiting for news of the previously-announced Popeye or the Will Ferrell and Adam KcKay produced Manimal.
While The Nightingale could potentially be a fantastic and moving piece of wartime drama, it's somewhat difficult to see the appeal of a Charlie's Angels reboot. Sony Pictures has been instrumental in its attempts to increase the number of female directors working on big-budget movies - which is certainly admirable, but one wishes they had come up with a more exciting idea than a reboot of a rather well-trod franchise.
With that said, Elizabeth Banks is a very talented director and producer, as evidenced by her work with the Pitch Perfect series - which took the potentially corny topic of competitive singing and turned it into a genuinely funny franchise, with a cast of fascinating characters. Banks is also likely to bring Charlie's Angels kicking and screaming into the modern era and with revival action comedies seeing somewhat of a renaissance (see 21 Jump Street), there is hope yet.
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Source: Variety
