Elizabeth Banks has insisted she's "proud" of her Charlie's Angels instalment after it was declared a box office flop following a disappointing opening weekend.
The action movie, starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska as the crime-fighting trio, only managed to debut in third place behind Ford v Ferrari and Midway on the North American box office chart on Sunday, launching with $8.6 million (£6.7 million) for a global take just shy of $28 million (£21.6 million).
Its slow start paled in comparison to the $40.1 million (£31 million) Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu's 2000 movie adaptation made, but despite the poor numbers, Banks, who co-wrote, directed, produced, and appeared as Bosley in the film, is standing by her decision to tackle the beloved franchise.
"Well, if you're going to have a flop, make sure your name is on it at least 4x. I'm proud of #CharliesAngels and happy it's in the world," Banks tweeted in reaction to the box office figures Monday.
Ahead of opening weekend, the actress/director told Australia's Herald Sun that the public needed to support the film.
"This movie has to make money," she said. "If this movie doesn't make money it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don't go see women do action movies."
However, when it was pointed out that Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, two female-led action films, were big box office successes, Banks insisted the superhero movies are still linked to the "male genre".
"They'll go and see a comic book movie with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel because that's a male genre," the 45-year-old continued. "So, even though those are movies about women, they put them in the context of feeding the larger comic book world, so it's all about, yes, you're watching a Wonder Woman movie but we're setting up three other characters or we're setting up Justice League."
In a separate interview with The Wall Street Journal, she defended her decision to make another Charlie's Angels by saying, "You've had 37 Spider-Man movies and you're not complaining! I think women are allowed to have one or two action franchises every 17 years."
