The W
February 23, 2017 - mayflower.jpg
Views: 178602719
Main | FAQ | Search: Y! / G | Calendar | Color chart | Log in for more!
19.3.24 0600
The W - Movies & TV - Joss Whedon in final negotiations to direct The Avengers
This thread has 6 referrals leading to it
Register and log in to post!
Thread rated: 4.57
Pages: 1 2 Next
(2641 newer) Next thread | Previous thread
User
Post (21 total)
John Orquiola
Scrapple








Since: 28.2.02
From: Boston

Since last post: 3551 days
Last activity: 3551 days
#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.51
God yes. Best news I've heard all day.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=65145

Joss Whedon to Direct The Avengers
Source: Deadline New York
April 13, 2010


Deadline New York reports that Marvel Studios is moving ahead with Joss Whedon as director of The Avengers. The site says he is now in final negotiations to helm the action adventure scheduled for a May 4, 2012 release.

The film would feature many of the lead actors involved in Marvel Studios adaptations right now, including Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man" films), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and more.

Paramount Pictures will distribute the film.

Whedon's credits include "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Firefly," "Angel," Serenity, "Dollhouse" and upcoming The Cabin in the Woods.



@BackoftheHead
www.backofthehead.com
Promote this thread!
Tenken347
Knackwurst








Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown

Since last post: 32 days
Last activity: 21 hours
#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.03
Hmmm. I'm not sure what to make of this. Whedon's best known for his writing, not his directing. In fact, the only theatrical directing credit to his name is the Firefly movie. He's done some television directing, but film and television aren't quite the same. I mean, he probably brings some good enthusiasm to the project, but his resume isn't exactly stellar in this regard.
Big Bad
Scrapple








Since: 4.1.02
From: Dorchester, Ontario

Since last post: 1918 days
Last activity: 1487 days
#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.66
Whedon directed numerous episodes of his various shows, and they always stood out as being a bit more 'advanced,' for lack of a better term, than the usual episodes of those series. (For example, from Buffy alone, Whedon directed 'Hush,' 'The Body,' and the musical episode, plus all of the season finales.)

Also, if this paves the way for Charisma Carpenter to play the Wasp, then oh hells yeah.
lotjx
Scrapple








Since: 5.9.08

Since last post: 1672 days
Last activity: 1511 days
#4 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.44
I would say Eliza as Wasp and Mr. Allyson Hanning ie Wesley as Ant-Man. I guess Hawkeye is already cast as is Scarlett Witch which are going to pop into Iron Man 2. Charisma would make a good Scarlett Witch and Nathan Fillion as Cap. SMG would make a great Ms.Marvel since Scarlett Johnason is Black Widow. I do expect that Joss getting the job means no friend casting. He knows who to direct ensembles which is what is needed here. He also directed some good action in Firefly, so I think its a good choice. I much prefer him directing then writing since he would make Cap gay for Tony and Wasp would somehow be the leader of the Avengers at the end. I do wonder if people like Samuel, Robert and Norton are going to take that many directions from him though.
lotjx
Scrapple








Since: 5.9.08

Since last post: 1672 days
Last activity: 1511 days
#5 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.44
(deleted by lotjx on 14.4.10 0845)
Amos Cochran
Lap cheong








Since: 28.8.09

Since last post: 3366 days
Last activity: 3366 days
#6 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.44
I love Joss as a showrunner but I could really do without his trademark dialogue and TV regulars being splattered all over the Marvel universe. I'm curiously downbeat about this.
Quezzy
Scrapple








Since: 6.1.02
From: Pittsburgh, PA

Since last post: 1899 days
Last activity: 1898 days
#7 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.45
I think I would prefer Whedon creating his own thing or doing some smaller project. Not sure how much control he'll really have on a big project like Avengers where Marvel is sure to be very hands on. I guess it is better than somebody I don't like directing Avengers though.

I can't really see many actors from the Whedonverse fitting into the Marvel Universe. Maybe Baldwin or Boreanaz but I don't know who either would play.



Lance's Response:

THAT IS AWESOME!
Tribal Prophet
Andouille








Since: 9.1.02
From: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Since last post: 2927 days
Last activity: 2187 days
#8 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.23
Well I loved Buffy and Angel is still one of my favorite shows, but the thing about Whedon is he's shown a lot more misses than hits. Even the episodes in Buffy where he directed were special episodes that would have stood out regardless of who directed them. Now had he directed the episode where Xander dated a preying mantis pretending to be his teacher, and THAT had gotten critical praise, it'd be a different story.

He also has a reputation for deflecting all blame from a failure onto everyone else but himself. If this movie gets a "Spider-Man 3" critical reception, it'll be interesting to see who he tries to pass the buck on to.

As much as I want to be excited by this news, the fact that he hasn't figured out how to make something that a large amount of people can enjoy since working on Toy Story 15 years ago makes me nervous about him at the helm of this franchise.
John Orquiola
Scrapple








Since: 28.2.02
From: Boston

Since last post: 3551 days
Last activity: 3551 days
#9 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.51
    Originally posted by Tribal Prophet
    As much as I want to be excited by this news, the fact that he hasn't figured out how to make something that a large amount of people can enjoy since working on Toy Story 15 years ago makes me nervous about him at the helm of this franchise.


I call foul on this. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was and continues to be enjoyed by a "large amount of people". At no point was Whedon ever in a position to prove that he could get that large amount of people to pay to go to movie theaters en masse to see Buffy. If a Buffy movie had been made say, 10 years ago, in lieu of seasons 6 and 7, I think it would have done very well.

Whedon has directed one feature film, Serenity, which bombed why? Because it was based on a cult TV series that aired for a few weeks before being canceled by FOX, so how COULD Serenity have found a mass audience. It was a miracle Serenity was made at all to give closure to Firefly.

I can agree with some of the trepidation on Whedon's ability to direct a big movie like The Avengers. I'm not saying this isn't a gamble by Marvel. I'm not saying Whedon can't fail.

But I'm much more intrigued at the potential of what Joss Whedon can do with the seminal heroes of the Marvel Universe banded together on the big screen than I am in what Joe Johnston and Kenneth Branagh (both more proven feature film directors) will be doing with Captain America and Thor's solo movies.

For the record, I loved the first 3 seasons of Buffy and am soft on the latter seasons, I LOVED Angel, I loved Firefly and Serenity, and I'm ehh on Dollhouse, and I never saw Dr. Horrible. I liked Astonishing X-Men but I don't read Buffy, Angel or Firefly comics.

(edited by John Orquiola on 14.4.10 0724)


@BackoftheHead
www.backofthehead.com
Amos Cochran
Lap cheong








Since: 28.8.09

Since last post: 3366 days
Last activity: 3366 days
#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.44
I'd be excited if Whedon was handed a redo of FANTASTIC FOUR - that's right in his wheelhouse. This just seems too big and too well-established for his sensibilities. I don't want to see Downey's Tony Stark spouting Whedonisms.
lotjx
Scrapple








Since: 5.9.08

Since last post: 1672 days
Last activity: 1511 days
#11 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.44
Did you see Iron Man? Most of it was Joss Whedon talk. I am not worried about the dialogue as much as I am concerned about Joss feeling the pressure under one of the most anticipated films of this decade. I don't see friend casting unless its someone like SMG, Summer or Eliza. People that are sort of already established. FF rebooting already is a bad idea. If they would have cast a credible Doom in the first one and went balls out with Galactus, I don't think people would look down on it like they do.
John Orquiola
Scrapple








Since: 28.2.02
From: Boston

Since last post: 3551 days
Last activity: 3551 days
#12 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.51
    Originally posted by lotjx
    FF rebooting already is a bad idea. If they would have cast a credible Doom in the first one and went balls out with Galactus, I don't think people would look down on it like they do.


If they'd written better screenplays and not turned the FF movies into bottom-feeding sitcoms helmed by a hack director taking his marching orders from FOX studio exectives' notes, then people wouldn't have looked down on those movies the way they do. But that's neither here nor there in a thread about Joss Whedon and The Avengers movie.

(edited by John Orquiola on 14.4.10 0822)


@BackoftheHead
www.backofthehead.com
Amos Cochran
Lap cheong








Since: 28.8.09

Since last post: 3366 days
Last activity: 3366 days
#13 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.47
    Originally posted by lotjx
    Did you see Iron Man? Most of it was Joss Whedon talk.


It really wasn't. Charming and witty, sure, but not laden with pop-culture references, made-up slang and full-force sarcasm.
Cerebus
Scrapple








Since: 17.11.02

Since last post: 2451 days
Last activity: 2173 days
#14 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.48
    Originally posted by John Orquiola
      Originally posted by Tribal Prophet
      As much as I want to be excited by this news, the fact that he hasn't figured out how to make something that a large amount of people can enjoy since working on Toy Story 15 years ago makes me nervous about him at the helm of this franchise.


    I call foul on this. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was and continues to be enjoyed by a "large amount of people". At no point was Whedon ever in a position to prove that he could get that large amount of people to pay to go to movie theaters en masse to see Buffy. If a Buffy movie had been made say, 10 years ago, in lieu of seasons 6 and 7, I think it would have done very well.

    Whedon has directed one feature film, Serenity, which bombed why? Because it was based on a cult TV series that aired for a few weeks before being canceled by FOX, so how COULD Serenity have found a mass audience. It was a miracle Serenity was made at all to give closure to Firefly.

    I can agree with some of the trepidation on Whedon's ability to direct a big movie like The Avengers. I'm not saying this isn't a gamble by Marvel. I'm not saying Whedon can't fail.

    But I'm much more intrigued at the potential of what Joss Whedon can do with the seminal heroes of the Marvel Universe banded together on the big screen than I am in what Joe Johnston and Kenneth Branagh (both more proven feature film directors) will be doing with Captain America and Thor's solo movies.

    For the record, I loved the first 3 seasons of Buffy and am soft on the latter seasons, I LOVED Angel, I loved Firefly and Serenity, and I'm ehh on Dollhouse, and I never saw Dr. Horrible. I liked Astonishing X-Men but I don't read Buffy, Angel or Firefly comics.

    (edited by John Orquiola on 14.4.10 0724)


Yeah, and I cry 'foul' on this.

At it's height, Buffy was getting just 5.4 million viewers (Season three, 1998), Angel could barely reach 5 Million at it's best (Season one, 1999), Serenity and Dollhouse... well, why even bother to look those up, we all know no one watched them.

In contrast, X-Files. At it's best, it was doing 17 million viewers (Season seven, 1998) and when it's first movie came out... it could only pull in about $84 million.

If X-Files, which was a top 20 rated show in 1998, couldn't drag people into the theatres for a big screen film, how can you honestly say Buffy, which could NEVER get even a third of those viewers, would have been a 'hit movie'?

Whedon's minuscule fan following brings NOTHING to the table here.

The Avengers film will make money, that's assured, but for the franchise as a whole to survive... keep his crappy actor friends away from any and all roles, keep his geeky writing away from the script, and keep his fan base away because they really aren't much help in the first place.

...oh yeah, and I LOVED Buffy and Angel, I ain't a hater.



Forget it Josh... it's Cerebustown.
Tribal Prophet
Andouille








Since: 9.1.02
From: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Since last post: 2927 days
Last activity: 2187 days
#15 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.23
    Originally posted by John Orquiola
      Originally posted by Tribal Prophet
      As much as I want to be excited by this news, the fact that he hasn't figured out how to make something that a large amount of people can enjoy since working on Toy Story 15 years ago makes me nervous about him at the helm of this franchise.


    I call foul on this. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was and continues to be enjoyed by a "large amount of people". At no point was Whedon ever in a position to prove that he could get that large amount of people to pay to go to movie theaters en masse to see Buffy. If a Buffy movie had been made say, 10 years ago, in lieu of seasons 6 and 7, I think it would have done very well.


The problem is Buffy averaged a little over 4 million viewers a week, the same as Firefly (although Firefly was broadcast in such a way that it was almost sabotaged from having much growth). Great for the stations it was on, but by no means a success compared to most network shows. It's ranking was consistently around the #100 most watched show on that week. It had a hell of a vocal audience, but was never 'mainstream', which was part of it's charm really. It's really big boosts in viewership coincided with SMG and Alyson Hannigan being in big movies at the same time.

I agree a Buffy movie made instead of the mess that was the last two seasons would have done well. Buffy was his 'lightning in a bottle' though. He's tried to make it strike twice by using the same actors, the same writing, the same kill-off-anyone-you-like, and the same make-up-our-own-slang.

There was something about Buffy though that you could make a feature about and market to a new audience. I don't know how to explain it, but it had sort of an 'x-factor' for tv the same way that a show like Star Trek did (although to a lesser degree of course). I don't think you could do that with Angel, Dollhouse, or Firefly though.
John Orquiola
Scrapple








Since: 28.2.02
From: Boston

Since last post: 3551 days
Last activity: 3551 days
#16 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.51
Oh, people can use facts to prove anything.

Your numbers don't lie, Cerebus, but I believe a Buffy movie in 1999-2000 properly promoted as a cultural touchstone to young people would have transcended the 5 million viewers Buffy had on The WB and would have been a hit movie. If such a movie existed and was actually a great movie. But such a beast never existed so we'll never really know.

    Originally posted by Cerebus
    The Avengers film will make money, that's assured, but for the franchise as a whole to survive... keep his crappy actor friends away from any and all roles, keep his geeky writing away from the script, and keep his fan base away because they really aren't much help in the first place.



Yeah, the Whedonites tend to drive regular people away from Whedon's stuff. That's the thing with these insular fan cults of worship. But I don't think Marvel expects the Whedon fanbase to be any real factor in the box office. The Avengers will be pre-sold based off of the two Iron Man movies, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and The First Avenger: Captain America. Some of us will just be unlucky enough to sit next to a creepy Whedonite shut in or two at our local theater but the mass audience already fans of Marvel movies and excited to see The Avengers will vastly outnumber the Cultmembers of Whedon.

(edited by John Orquiola on 14.4.10 0935)


@BackoftheHead
www.backofthehead.com
GameCrazy
Chipolata








Since: 13.1.10
From: Wyomissing, PA

Since last post: 4914 days
Last activity: 3687 days
#17 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.60
As a diehard Whedon fan who has watched most episodes of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly about 10-15 times each, I am... confused.

Excited, but confused.

How does someone like Whedon, who really is unestablished in the film industry, land a gig this epic? I know he has one movie he's directed that's in post-production right now (I think it's called Cabin in the Woods or something, it's a suspense/thriller/horror hybrid) but the success of that is yet to be seen. He had the Marvel "in" by way of the X-Men comics, but I can assume that was a very small factor in the equation. His biggest attribute, which is his ability to slowly develop characters and storylines over a long span of time, can't even really be applied here. With most of the characters involved already having their own movies, I'd guess that his freedom to mold characters will be very crippled.

I know he's not writing the movie, but Whedonesque was reporting yesterday that he's gone on record and said he'll be doing rewrites of the script. The guy has a knack for in-fight one-liners, so that'll be fun, but I'll be verrry interested to see how he's able to put his own stamp on something that he has limited creative control over. His action scenes have always been well-directed and fun to watch, but he wouldn't be on the short list of Hollywood directors in that department. Maybe they were looking for someone who would put the focus on the story since the action stuff will be largely CG anyway. He must be like a kid in a candy store right now. He's never had a box of toys this big to play with.

I'm really happy for him, and of course I'm imagining all kinds of Whedonverse actor cameos that will probably never happen. But damn... he must have had one hell of a pitch. And with the amount of money and notoriety he'll get from this, maybe he'll finally have the resources to turn some of his pet projects into reality.
odessasteps
Scrapple








Since: 2.1.02
From: MD, USA

Since last post: 3562 days
Last activity: 3529 days
#18 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.22

I'd rather see Joss make a Steed and Mrs. Peel movie preferably with Eliza Dushku as Emma Peel.



Mark Coale
Odessa Steps Magazine
ISSUE FOUR - OCTOBER 2009
kentish
Andouille








Since: 19.8.05
From: My Old Kentucky Home

Since last post: 3405 days
Last activity: 1416 days
#19 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.76
I am glad to see they may get someone who is at least a comics geek. His Astonishing X-Men comics were never too Whedon-ish, IMO. Similar to Phantom menace, but maybe not on the same scale, this movie has a license to print money. The only question is "Will it deliver?"




"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

-- Mahatma Gandhi
lotjx
Scrapple








Since: 5.9.08

Since last post: 1672 days
Last activity: 1511 days
#20 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.44
John Favreau and Christopher Nolan were not action directors before they got their big deals. Favreau directed small indy pictures with Vince Vaughn nothing the size of Iron Man. People knew him as the lovable sidekick not the next action movie director. Nolan did Memento and Insomina which are not giant action pieces. Joss has at least done an action sci-fi movie pretty damn well. For people to say how did he get this deal? A few reasons, One, he has worked with Marvel in the past. Two, he is an established person nerds know and mostly respect. Three, he has directed ensembles before on both the small and big screens. Four, he can do a lot with little and after the Disney pay out, don't be too shocked if this budget is going to be the Avatar level people think it will be. Five, he is someone not related to the other big projects, so the other actors don't feel their director got screwed over by another actor's director buddy. He is a good safe pick. Also the popularity of his franchise probably helped him since as before Nolan, Favreau and most of the guys directing these movies now don't have any franchise cred to back them up.
Pages: 1 2 Next
Thread rated: 4.57
Pages: 1 2 Next
Thread ahead: American Idol '10: Top Nine Perform (Again)
Next thread: Conan O'Brien lands on TBS
Previous thread: The Wire is coming to the 101 Network
(2641 newer) Next thread | Previous thread
Hip, hip, hooray! The new season starts in a few weeks. I love me some Deadwood. The fact that my wife is from SD doesn't hurt, either.
- MisterHenderson, Deadwood (2006)
Related threads: BATTLEFIELD EARTH: THE APOLOGY - A PC Speedy Gonzales?!?!? - The Road - More...
The W - Movies & TV - Joss Whedon in final negotiations to direct The AvengersRegister and log in to post!

The W™ message board

ZimBoard
©2001-2024 Brothers Zim

This old hunk of junk rendered your page in 0.212 seconds.