In Hollywood there is a fine line between wide-open collaboration and absolute anarchy, and “Charlie’s Angels” tested that distinction repeatedly. “When you don’t have something set, it becomes a free-for-all,” says Leonard Goldberg, who produced both the TV show and the movie. Following an anxious search for the proper tone and the right casting, the update of TV’s detective-cleavage drama was entrusted to a trio of novice filmmakers. Columbia, which has struggled recently, watched with increasing apprehension as a flotilla of screenwriters came aboard to overhaul the screenplay, actors rebelled against the shifting script and each other, new producers were summoned to take charge and the budget grew to a steep $92 million.
Columbia is now starting to breathe again. While the production won’t attract Oscar-caliber reviews, it appears poised for popcorn success. Audience surveys show mounting interest in the adventures of Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore) and Alex (Lucy Liu) as they solve a computer programmer’s kidnapping only to find their mysterious boss is in danger. With fight sequences borrowed from “The Matrix” and plenty of skin-tight costumes, the film’s appeal may not be limited to young girls, either.
When the current movie was first contemplated in 1995, the toughest “Charlie’s Angels” challenge was establishing the proper point of view: Are these women bimbos? Or are they really crackerjack private eyes with nice lashes? Goldberg and partner Aaron Spelling initially resisted a tongue-in-cheek spoof, pushing for a hard-core action tale, but Columbia wasn’t interested. Ed Solomon and Ryan Rowe then wrote a female James Bond yarn with the Angels foiling a plot to clone supermodels and peddle them to billionaires. Columbia liked that 1998 script so much it started the movie along.
Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen, the actress’s partner in her production company, then visited Columbia to present their own ideas for the movie. Columbia wanted Barrymore to star, but as part of her $8 million deal, she would also produce, even though she and Juvonen’s first and only movie was the $22 million teen comedy “Never Been Kissed.” Music-video director McG was hired as a first-time director. Suddenly, three young people were at the controls of a potential franchise, and they didn’t even have a map.
Top actors weren’t exactly taking numbers to star, either. A number of women, from Liv Tyler to Thandie Newton, were mentioned for lead roles. Ashley Judd declined even to meet with the filmmakers. New screenwriter John August arrived to make revisions, and “Charlie’s Angels” quickly veered in new directions. “We did not intend to make a spoof,” Juvonen says. Says August: “It’s not ‘Lethal Weapon.’ It’s not ‘Brady Bunch.’ It’s its own weird beast.” The real weirdness, though, was yet to come.
Barrymore’s production company is Flower Films, yet she is no shrinking violet. She eventually personally persuaded Diaz (who earned $12 million) to star, and insisted that the Angels not use guns. The actress also likes to create an atmosphere where everybody can offer opinions, which led to chaos and no final script. “Moviemaking is about telling a story,” concedes Juvonen. “And you need to know what story you are going to tell.” Even old Angels Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson had their own ideas for how the movie should look, and wouldn’t agree to appear. When Mike Myers, who considered playing Angels sidekick Bosley, was replaced by Bill Murray, Murray insisted that Bosley’s homosexuality (added for the new movie version) be excised. Diaz thought her character, Natalie, would like to dance, so a whole lot of booty-shaking came in. Barrymore’s Dylan originally dated only losers, but a cast with few likable men was a risk, so her Lotharios, including real-life boyfriend Tom Green, received congeniality makeovers.
To inject more humor, six comedy writers with credits ranging from “Seinfeld” to “The Larry Sanders Show” were summoned to supply jokes. Screenwriter Zak Penn was hired to add action and resolve the film’s final act. Writer-producer Akiva Goldsman tried to make the disparate pages all fit together. “It’s probably not a record for writers,” says Penn (1994’s “The Flintstones,” in fact, had 32 writers). “But it’s not good, even as someone who benefited from it.”
Just on the eve of filming, the studio decided to send in two more producers, Betty Thomas and Jenno Topping, to oversee production. There were more problems to come. Liu, frustrated with Murray’s rewrites, finally snapped at the actor in an on-set tirade. “She wanted [a scene] to go one way, and he wanted it to go another,” Juvonen says. “Lucy’s a strong, passionate person. And Bill is the ruler of the land.”
Says McG, who collapsed with a 102-degree fever the day after the premiere: “A lot of movies try to make you think. ‘Charlie’s Angels’ tries to make you dream.” Including, perhaps, of moviemaking far less nightmarish.
