Tag Archives: Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon’s ‘Much Ado’ due June 2013

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A little over a year ago Avengers helmer Joss Whedon revealed that he was working on his own indie project, secretly adapting and directing a modern version of Shakespeare’s classic comedy Much Ado About Nothing.  Bellwether Pictures, a “micro-studio” created by Whedon and his wife Kai Cole, backed the black-and-white project which was shot on a small budget in just twelve days inside Whedon’s Santa Monica, California-based home. The ensemble cast is comprised of many of Whedon’s past collaborators: Amy Acker (Dollhouse) and Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel), Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), and Sean Maher (Firefly). For more on the movie, click back to the original article.

When all of this was first announced, Whedon merely mentioned that it was all put together for fun hoping that one day it would be shown in theatres. “I’ve just been enjoying the Internet response,” he shared with EW. “We’re feeling our way on this one, just like Dr. Horrible. I do mean it to be in theaters. But we haven’t gotten any real plan except [going to] film festivals because it sounded like it would be festive.”

Since then, Much Ado was screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews and shortly thereafter North American distribution rights were acquired by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. Just yesterday a theatrical release date was set: June 7, 2013.

We’ve already seen what Joss can do with a huge budget and Hollywood’s hottest stars. Though Much Ado falls on the opposite spectrum of everything that was Marvel’s The Avengers, fans will flock to theatres to watch the man perform movie magic again, this time with a truly personal touch. Much like Dr. Horrible, Much Ado is a passion project for Joss and audiences will notice.

James Gunn confirms his involvement in Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

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Marvel’s second phase of film offerings includes mostly sequels to already established franchises like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. Two of them–namely Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy–have the potential to become franchises of their own. On Tuesday director James Gunn (Slither, Super) confirmed speculation by announcing via Facebook he will in fact helm the adaptation of Guardians of the Galaxy:

For a month or so there’s been a lot of Internet speculation about my involvement with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Until now I haven’t said anything, because I’m trying to be less expulsive about this project than I am about the rest of my life. But last night I got the go-ahead from Kevin Feige to let you all know that, yes, indeed, I am rewriting and directing Guardians of the Galaxy. As a lifelong lover of Marvel comics, space epics, AND raccoons, this is the movie I’ve been waiting to make since I was nine years old. Kevin, Joss, and all the folks at Marvel have been amazing collaborators so far, and we’re committed to bringing you something majestic, beautiful, and unique. I am incredibly excited. I am also incredibly grateful to the fans and the press for all their words of encouragement and support regarding my involvement with this project since the news first leaked. Thanks – you have, honestly, touched and overwhelmed me. And that’s it for now. Other than the occasional photos of my dog and cat here on Facebook, I’ll talk to you again in August 2014 when Guardians is released!

Concept art for the flick includes a superhero team made up of Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, and Gamora. Yes, a gun-wielding raccoon is involved. And with Gunn directing, things are about to get wild, wacky, and extremely radical. Hear what Avengers helmer Joss Whedon has to say about Gunn’s involvement in a video interview posted after the break. Continue reading James Gunn confirms his involvement in Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ →

Live action Marvel TV show from Joss Whedon gets a name: ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’

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Earlier this month it was reported that Avengers director Joss Whedon would return to write and direct the sequel and develop a live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. Today more information regarding the latter announcement was divulged. The ABC drama will be called S.H.I.E.L.D. (which stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) and is based on the league of Marvel superheroes headed by Nick Fury (who is played by Samuel L. Jackson in the movies). S.H.I.E.L.D. will be written by Whedon, his brother Jed, and Jed’s wife Maurissa Tancharoen; these three previously collaborated on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and FOX’s Dollhouse. They will executive produce with Jeffrey Bell and Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb. According to Deadline the show has officially been greenlit and production is already underway. Whedon plans on directing at least the pilot.

The Avengers are preparing to assemble on TV; which members of S.H.I.E.L.D. do you think Whedon and friends will decide to introduce on the small screen?

[Via Deadline]

It’s official: Joss Whedon will return to write & direct ‘The Avengers 2’, develop a Marvel-based TV series

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What a day! Arrested Development keeps its head down and powers through and Disney and Marvel announce that The Avengers helmer and geek god Joss Whedon will return to write and direct the anticipated sequel tentatively titled The Avengers 2. The superhero summer blockbuster hasn’t even hit Blu-ray yet, and we still have to get through Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Solider, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ant-Man, but just knowing that the mastermind behind arguably the greatest superhero movie of all time is going to do it again. And if that wasn’t enough, Whedon also plans to develop a live action drama series set in the Marvel universe for ABC (it may or may not star members of the elite Avengers team).

After Disney CEO Bob Iger spilled the beans during the company’s earnings call, Marvel released the following statement nicely summing it all up: “Joss Whedon has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Studios for film and television through the end of June 2015. As part of that deal, Whedon will write and direct Marvel’s The Avengers 2 as well as help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.”

That last bit is interesting, isn’t it? Will Whedon be free to dip his toe in Phase Two waters? Whatever comes of that, rest assured knowing that the man behind Firefly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon Marvel fans. And for you Whedon fans, perhaps his recent shift in luck will amount to a TV series lasting more than a few seasons (Buffy and Angel notwithstanding).

Update: Save the date; The Avengers 2 (that’s a tentative title) releases May 1, 2015. Now cry because that’s so far from now. And then later recover because you know that new installments from the other Marvel franchises are on the way.

[Via Deadline 1, 2]

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE TODAY

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Since “The Avenger Initiative” was hinted at in 2008’s Iron Man, moviegoers have been anticipating the epic superhero movie that would bring together Marvel’s finest. Under the guidance of geek god Joss Whedon, the Avengers assemble today. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow unite in the ultimate superhero movie, The Avengers, out today.

I just came out of a midnight screening, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. The Avengers is this: phenomenal eye candy, perfect pacing, balanced tone, comedic as it is epic in scale, and most of all extremely entertaining. No spoilers, see? Just make sure you sit through all the credits; there is not one but two tags to look out for!

Now… May the Fourth be with you.

Trailer: ‘The Cabin in the Woods’

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At long last, Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods is going to see the light of day. The director of The Avengers teamed up with Cloverfield helmer Drew Goddard to produce a horror flick originally slated to release in 2009. Due to MGM’s filing for bankruptcy, the film was shelved indefinitely. Thankfully Lionsgate came to the rescue and agreed to distribute it.

The Cabin in the Woods involves a group of good-looking teens who decide to spend a weekend at a vacant cabin to let loose and party. And then bad things happen. It’s a situation we’ve heard time and time again, but as the tagline hints, “You think you know the story.” Yeah, I went ahead and added the emphasis. Whedon, who produced and co-wrote with director Goddard, says it’s “a straight-up, balls-out, really terrifying horror movie…it is not just a slasher in the woods. It’s a little more complicated than that…” And if you screen the trailer above, you’ll see what he means by that. Sure, these kids are getting tortured just like in the classics (and the awful remakes I must admit), but the story is twisted and elevated a few notches higher when it starts to involve creepy voyeurs and a honeycomb-like forcefield that’s keeping the gang from escaping the woods. Will it rise above the recent slew of crappy horror flicks? With Whedon and Goddard behind the words and direction, I have no doubt The Cabin in the Woods will be a suspenseful thrill ride worth the price of admission. I’ve only watched this trailer like ten times and I’m ready to wait in line!

The Cabin in the Woods, which can now be considered a horror/sci-fi mashup, makes its way to theatres April 13, 2012. It stars Dollhouse alum Fran Kranz and Amy Acker, along with Tom Lenk (Buffy, Angel),  Jesse Williams, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Brian White, and a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth. Want to know what else is intriguing about all this? Big-name stars Richard Jenkins (Let Me In) and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) are no where to be found in this trailer. Chew on that for a while. Then take a look at the trippy movie poster after the break. Continue reading Trailer: ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ →

Joss Whedon’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ project revealed

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On Monday, this little bit of exciting news came to light: Bellwether Pictures announced that Joss Whedon (Dr. Horrible, The Avengers) secretly adapted and directed a modern version of Shakespeare’s classic comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Never heard of the backing studio Bellwether Pictures? A press release explains its origin; it’s “a micro-studio created by Joss Whedon and Kai Cole [Whedon’s wife] for the production of small, independent narrativesfor all media, embracing a DIY ethos and newer technologies for, in this particular case, a somewhat older story.” The film was shot in black and white over the course of  just twelve days in “exotic” Santa Monica, California. It stars many of Whedon’s past collaborators from Firefly, Dollhouse, and his upcoming horror film Cabin in the Woods. The two leads are Amy Acker (Dr. Claire Saunders from Dollhouse) and Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy and Angel) as Beatrice and Benedick, “the world’s least likely lovers headedfor their inevitable tumble into love.” The supporting cast includes Nathan Fillion (Firefly) as Dogberry, Clark Gregg (The Avengers) as Leonato, Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) as Claudio, Reed Diamond (Moneyball) as Don Pedro, and Sean Maher (Firefly) as Don John. Says Whedon, “The text is to me adeconstruction of the idea of love, which is ironic, since the entire production is a loveletter – to the text, to the cast, even to the house it’s shot in.”

Whedon made the decision to move ahead with his passion project while filming The Avengers in New York. After the Marvel filmed wrapped, he planned to celebrate his 20th anniversary with his wife Kai by taking a break from work and going on vacation. Kai ultimately pushed Whedon into Much Ado About Nothing and together they financially backed the project, made casting decisions, and shot the entire film inside their home. Kai is an architect and she ended up designing the set and decorating the house.

In an interview with EW, Whedon described his take on the Shakespearean play. “I had trouble at first, because it had the words “About Nothing” in the title. So I was like, “I don’t have anything to say about nothing.” But really when I started pouring over it, I got a very strong sense of how a little bit dark and twisted it is. The movie’s in black-and-white partially because it’s kind of a noir comedy. I realized that everybody in it behaves like such a dolt — an articulate dolt, but a dolt. I fixated on this notion that our ideas of romantic love are created for us by the society around us, and then escape from that is grown-up love, is marriage, is mature love, to escape the ideals of love that we’re supposed to follow. So that clicked for me when I realized, oh, I get why it matters everybody goes through the weird machinations we go through.”

Actor Sean Maher shed some more light on what to expect with EW. “It does feel contemporary. The direction we were getting from Joss was to make it was real, especially with the language, not to be big and Shakespearian, but to bring it in and be intimate and bring it as close to a realistic way of speaking as we could. And Joss’ house is just magnificent. Not ostentatious by any means, but just a maze of halls and so many different bedrooms and this pool that overlooks the Santa Monica mountains. It’s gorgeous, just the most perfect setting. Everybody who was there, so desperately wanted to be there and you felt that. It really felt like we were doing something great. So I’m excited.”

And so now I bet you’re wondering when the general public will be able to see Whedon’s rendition of Much Ado About Nothing. “I haven’t heard anything yet,” he told EW. “I’ve just been enjoying the Internet response. We’re feeling our way on this one, just like Dr. Horrible. I do mean it to be in theaters. But we haven’t gotten any real plan except [going to] film festivals because it sounded like it would be festive.”

There you have it. The veil has been lifted from Joss Whedon’s passion project, a modernized version of a classic Shakespeare play. While we wait for official announcements concerning the film’s distribution, feast your eyes on two images from the production featuring Sean Maher and Amy Acker plus a a still from the official movie website. The full press release sits after the break.

[Via MuchAdoTheMovie; EW] Continue reading Joss Whedon’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ project revealed →

Trailer: The Avengers (plus character stills)

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Prepare yourself for a giant slice of awesome. The Avengers brings together our favorite Marvel heroes in one kick-ass film. In the very first trailer created by a team led by director Joss Whedon, we witness the Avengers–namely Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and leader Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)–joining forces to fend off the villainous Loki (Tom Hiddleston). If you recall, Loki is the adoptive brother-turned-archenemy of Thor introduced in the summer blockbuster released in May. Upon watching this trailer over and over again you will likely experience more than one nerdgasm (not unlike the ones you felt here and here). And then a giant wave of anticipation will hit you: The Avengers assemble May 4, 2012.

Oh but there’s more. Check out the gallery below for some epic character stills.

Production begins on The Avengers

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Here is the very first image from the set of the upcoming super hero epic The Avengers, released by Marvel. Not that exciting, I know; but when you really think about it, it kinda is. Director Joss Whedon has broken ground on the movie that will bring together Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and oh so many more Marvel favorites.

On April 24, the day before principal photography for the film began, Whedon marked the occasion with a short but sweet blog post on the fansite Whedonesque. Here’s an excerpt:

Hi Pumpkins, joss here. Tomorrow we start shooting (I THINK I’m legally permitted to say that). Day one. That’s right. We’ll be shooting the pivotal death/betrayal/product placement/setting up the sequel/coming out scene, at the following address: [Marvel Lawyers rush in, take Joss’s keyboard, blowtorch a picture of his family like in “Stormy Monday”, drink his milkshake, leave the seat up, fluff his pillows, violently unfluff his pillows, leave]

Oh, Joss. You’re going to want to read the rest here. Right! The Avengers assemble in theatres May 4, 2012.

Dr. Horrible, the book

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Well what do we have here? Something to hold us all over until the hotly anticipated Dr. Horrible sequel–that’s what! The Brothers Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen have put together a Horrible book that includes exclusive new material from the production team including a full transcription of the script, sheet music, a costume feature, a section highlighting the merchandise spawned by the musical, and contributions from the cast and crew. Said contributions from the cast include a discussion between Joss, Zack, Jed, and Maurissa, words from stars Felicia Day (Penny) and Simon Helberg (Moist), an afterward written by Neil Patrick Harris, a Horrible Haiku written by Nathan Fillion, and this introduction straight from the mouth of Captain Hammer himself:

People often ask me me to write the introductions to their books. They ask me to speak at their school, be the Godfather to their child, or make a spurty in their lady place.

I usually say no. Books don’t interest me, school is for sissies, and the Godfather was a bad man who did mob crime. The lady thing is okay, as long as it’s between consenting adults and no one gets hurt/slapped with a paternity suite. But to conclude this word section, books are for coffee tables.

But this book is different.

So yeah, this is a must-buy for every Horrible fan out there. It goes on sale March 29 and Amazon has it up for preorder at $13.57.

[Via SciFiMafia]

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ will resurface in reboot film, Joss Whedon not attached

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And the fanboys and girls shrieked!  That’s right–Buffy the Vampire Slayer is being primed for a comeback, but this time around Buffy (TV) creator and beloved showrunner turned Avengers director Joss Whedon is not attached to the project.  Today Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment announced that a Buffy reboot film is in the works.  Atlas’ Charles Roven and Steve Alexander and Vertigo Entertainment’s Doug Davison and Roy Lee are signed on to executive produce the upcoming vampire flick.  Whit Anderson, actress turned screenwriter, will pen the script.  If you didn’t know, Buffy actually started out in the movies.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Fran and Kaz Kuzui, hit theatres in 1992.  Joss Whedon worked his magic to spin the feature into a long-running TV series on The WB (1997-2003).  Warner Bros. managed to option the rights to Buffy from the Kuzuis to Atlas and Vertigo.  Let’s take a look at some choice quotes surrounding this surprising announcement.

Says Roven of Atlas: “Generally,  I wouldn’t have said,‘Let’s revive this,’ but Whit’s take is pretty compelling and a lot of fun, and it’s interesting to see all of this reimagined. This is a completely new reboot. Tone is extremely important, and you want the audience to realize what is at stake and the peril is real, but at the same time what’s going on should be fun and inviting and keep everyone engaged. It needs to be relevant to today too, and that is what Whit has found a way to do.” … “There is an active fan base eagerly awaiting this character’s return. … While this is not your high-school Buffy, she’ll be just as witty, tough and sexy as we all remember her to be.”

And Whedon made sure his two cents were heard ’round the world shortly after the announcement: “Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this. My first reaction upon hearing who was writing it was, “Whit Stillman AND Wes Anderson? This is gonna be the most sardonically adorable movie EVER.” Apparently I was misinformed. Then I thought, “I’ll make a mint! This is worth more than all my Toy Story residuals combined!” Apparently I am seldom informed of anything. And possibly a little slow. But seriously, are vampires even popular any more?”

You’re going to want hop after the break to read the rest of Whedon’s remarks.  In so many words, he is not happy about a Buffy comeback at this moment in time (he’d prefer it come “after [his] death”), but he understands that the situation is out of his hands.  Buffy fans, what say you?  Can a Whedon-less Buffy survive today?

[Via LATimes; EOnline; Deadline] Continue reading ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ will resurface in reboot film, Joss Whedon not attached →