'The Avengers' aims for a record opening weekend

There's no question The Avengers (4,349 theatres) will do well this weekend. The super-superhero movie brings together the all-stars of comic books: Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, and Hawkeye. Most importantly, the tentpole has already earned $281 million overseas, where it released last week. The U.S. is no longer the first market when it comes to mega-budget movies, but stateside it hasn't done much to lessen the anticipation or make audiences feel cheated. In fact, the atmosphere online indicates people are more excited to see the Joss Whedon-directed film.

Critics are often tougher to satisfy than audiences, so FJI's Frank Lovece's proclamation that "The Avengers is everything you could want in a superhero movie" indicates the picture really delivers. He praises the "larger-than-life feats" that are "believably and meaningfully executed," as well as the emotional explorations, like "the loneliness of being different," that add depth to the story. Releasing in well-done 3D, along with IMAX, the action picture could earn at least $150 million this weekend.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (27 theatres) has also released overseas already, where it has earned over $70 million. The British film centers on U.K. retirees who end up in not-quite- what-expected retirement lodgings in India. FJI critic Shirley Sealy praised the talented cast who give the film its "charm and considerable zest for life."

Also on the menu in selected theatres this week is First Position (5 theatres), a "truly exhilarating" documentary about a ballet competition for young dancers, according to Doris Toumarkine. Kate Hudson does her free-spirited leading lady bit in A Little Bit of Heaven (11 theatres), a "tone-deaf dramedy" about her character's search to find love after a grim cancer diagnosis, as described by THR's Frank Scheck. Finally, the exact opposite of a Catholic's vision of The Perfect Family (5 theatres) is on display in the Kathleen Turner starrer. The comedy features her character trying to win "Catholic Woman of the Year"  in spite of her lesbian daughter, philandering son, and alcoholic husband.

On Monday, we'll see if The Avengers breaks the opening weekend record of $169.2 million, set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.

Joss Whedon announces he's just wrapped a secret project

By Sarah Sluis

In this age of overexposure, most movies are announced well before they enter production. But Joss Whedon, who's writing and directing next year's comic book mega-movie The Avengers, appears to have shot another film on the sly. A playfully cryptic website went up Sunday, informing Whedon's fans that the principal photography had been completed for Much Ado About Nothing, "a film by Joss Whedon based on a play." The general opinion is that Whedon adapted from the Shakespeare play of the same name and shot the movie in black-and-white in his home for twelve days (Much Ado takes place on one estate, so that fits).

Whedon is one of the few writer/directors who has actively engaged with new media, novel forms of distribution, and low-budget Internet experiments, so he's exactly the kind of person who would decide to mount an independent production. Whedon's work on projects such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Firefly," "Dollhouse" and Serenity has created a rabid fan base that responds well to direct announcements (not through a news organization) and teasing amounts of information. "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" was a three-part web series distributed exclusively over the Internet, a way for Whedon to be creative during the 2007-2008 writers' strike. He created short web videos to promote Serenity, and a webcomic seemingly "just because."

Whedon is something of a rarity in that he is as much a cult figure as his shows. He's the ultimate fanboy or fangirl dream, since he's willing to create so much content that explores the geeky minutiae of a fictional universe he's developed. In the months leading up to The Avengers' release in May 2012, I'm sure Whedon will have a few such pre-release tricks up his sleeve. As for Much Ado About Nothing? There are plans to take the low-budget movie on the festival circuit.

Today's Film News: Moving On, Moving Up

By Sarah Sluis

Moving On to more adult roles, Zac Efron has decided to star in a remake of the Swedish film Snabba Cash. I checked out the trailer on YouTube (there's also one with English subtitles) and was hit first with a Gatsby-esque, classy version of excess (lawn party!) followed by the plumbing vans, violence, and dark lighting typical of drug movies. Over the next two minutes, there's more violence, sex, some chase scenes and people fighting with each other, all lit with saturated, luminous cinematography and accompanied by a Swedish music soundtrack. No wonder it inspired a bidding war. After bowing out of Footloose for fear of being typecast into singing and dancing teen roles, Efron has found a project that's exactly the opposite of tweeny-bopper. While fellow Disney star Miley Cyrus recently starred in a PG "transition" movie with a family-oriented, romance-lite plot, The Last Song, Efron has chosen the complete opposite route. Which one will work? Since the project has a "short fuse" clause (the best dealmaking tool ever for impatient fans) and must be made within a certain time period, or the rights expire, we'll get to see Efron soon.

Moving Up: Joss Whedon, creator of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series, "Firefly," "Dollhouse" and others, the kind of series that inspired fan backlashes upon their cancellation, has a huge cult following. I should know, because he's an alumnus of my university and when he visited, people started waiting in line hours before he showed up for a talk, and isn't waiting in line ridiculously early a hallmark of geek culture? The geek approval makes him that much more valuable of a commodity. As of this week, he's attached to direct The Avengers, and, today in the blogosphere, little voices say he's involved in Captain America too (they're both Marvel projects). With the support of the fan community, his work will be treated with additional reverence and considered a step above the usual product--that is, if he isn't done in by the sky-high expectations his fans will have created. The choice of Whedon is a great move. He has done serialized and spin-off work and created original, memorable characters. His only feature directing credit, Serenity, was a spin-off of "Firefly." Since The Avengers is kind of a meta-superhero tale, with all the stars (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, The Fury, and maybe The Hulk) of other comic books coming together, it would be a good idea to have a creative person with their hands in more than one film, and who has experience extending stories across different mediums.