Chris Pratt has said he will appear in a movie directed by Elizabeth Banks in response to the 4% challenge, which encourages members of the film industry to commit to working with a female director within the next 18 months.
The challenge was launched by Time’s Up and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the Sundance Film Festival last month and refers to the fact that just four per cent of the directors of the 1,200 top grossing films from 2007 to 2018 were women.
Emerging out of a @TIMESUPNOW meeting and announced today at #Sundance, the 4% Challenge aims to increase the number of women directing top movies. @ninajacobson #therealbradsimpson @paulfeig @franklinleonard @RobinsonAngela & @amyschumer have all signed on. Will you? pic.twitter.com/7TTAgtn6N8
— Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (@Inclusionists) January 25, 2019
Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, Amy Schumer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Kyra Sedgwick are among the stars that have accepted the challenge, as well as Universal Pictures, MGM Studios and Paramount Pictures, while Disney CEO Bob Iger has said 40% of upcoming Disney Studios films are being directed by women and they are striving for more.
Asked about the challenge, Banks, who directed Pitch Perfect 2 and the upcoming Charlie’s Angels reboot, told the Press Association: “I’m here and ready for it. I’m in the four per cent and I would love for people to get involved.
“I’ve got movie roles ready to go, Chris is committing to my next film.”
Pratt added: “I am, yep. I don’t even know what it is but I told her I’m in. That’s my agent on the phone but I’m not even going to answer it because it’s in.”
The duo then shook hands and Pratt said: “Just happened,” before whispering, “What’s the movie?”
Banks has completed filming on the new version of Charlie’s Angels, which stars Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska, and the film is due to be released in the UK in October.
She said: “I am building on something that came out in the 70s and Drew (Barrymore) and Cameron (Diaz) and Lucy Liu did an incredible job with the movies (which came out in 2000 and 2003), gosh it’s been almost 18 years now, which I can’t believe.
“It’s about women at work, kicking butt, having fun, it’s got swagger and sass, and that feels like something I would be excited to do, so I was really excited to keep telling a new story for Charlie’s Angels.”
She also stars in the film as Bosley but will next be heard in the sequel to 2014’s The Lego Movie, lending her voice to Wyldstyle, while Pratt reprises his role as Emmet Brickowski.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is released in UK cinemas on February 8.