"“It’s tracking off the charts. Biggest in every category and with everyone — men, women, young, old. Any way you slice it and dice it. It’s just a mega-movie,” one rival studio mogul gushed to me Thursday night."

Wow. It's almost too much to believe. After years of preaching the merits of Joss to mostly skeptical non-believers, our beloved Joss Whedon has written and directed one of the biggest movies of all time. (Rest assured that with 40 more minutes deleted scenes, this will will be one of the biggest DVD releases ever as well.)

I'm so happy for him, and us, I could weep tears of joy and vindication.

[ edited by Penthos on 2012-05-04 15:06 ]

Penthos | May 04, 15:03 CET

I am getting misty eyed reading and listening to all this news. I am such a geek. ;-)

hann23 | May 04, 15:06 CET

Cut to 2005 where we were wondering what Serenity's 3.9m opening day meant.

gossi | May 04, 15:14 CET

Wow.

Congratulations to Joss and the whole team.

Now get out - before it swallows you whole ;)

malcolm | May 04, 15:21 CET

I think it should be called Hollywhedon from now on.

Winchester | May 04, 15:27 CET

Cut to 2005 where we were wondering what Serenity's 3.9m opening day meant.

Now I wonder what numbers a Serenity 3D rerelease would do if they released it whenever Avengers finishes its cinematic run...

(Actually I think most of the hype will go to the Marvel brand rather than Joss, but still. But still.)

Niels van Eekelen | May 04, 15:34 CET

I am so happy for Joss. In his industry it's rare when the nice guy, the humble guy, becomes wildly successful and gets his just due. And Joss has done it without losing his kindness and humility. There are now probably several more actors and crew that, if Joss called them, would automatically say "Yes" without hearing what it's about.

I'm envisioning Fox executives, past and present, with bruised tushies from kicking themselves.

If anything could ever get a studio to take a chance on making more Serenity, this is it.

[ edited by Amrita on 2012-05-04 17:18 ]

Amrita | May 04, 15:46 CET

I'd love to see a few theatres show Serenity with "from the writer/director of The Avengers" promotion. Could get a few more eyeballs....

zz9 | May 04, 15:47 CET

Numfar! Do the dance of joy.

jaxn | May 04, 15:50 CET

Not to dig up the Serenity wounds (I doubt it would happen again, and I think joss needs some, uhm, serenity from that one), but if it had happened years later, it may have played differently. I mean, Serenity was shot 4 years before Twitter was a start up company. The geek world has changed a lot.

What I'm excited about - the idea Hollywood may start hiring more writer/directors who don't suck. Make an Avengers sequel with Drew Goddard. Or Edgar Wright. Don't make all action films just be noise. Make them have a heart, too.

[ edited by gossi on 2012-05-04 15:54 ]

gossi | May 04, 15:54 CET

Posted this on Twitter this morning: "The emotional scene in the final Harry Potter, when the framed headmasters all cheer? That's how I feel about the new Joss love."

It's almost cathartic, seeing Joss finally get the reactions from the world that we've been giving all along. It's like "See? See? This is what we meant!"

C. A. Bridges | May 04, 15:59 CET

My favorite tweet about The Avengers so far is from @track7grrl:

"I can't wait until Joss buys Fox."

I do get the distinct impression that almost my entire timeline 1) went last night and 2) had a seminal viewing experience. ; ] Ms. Mo. tweeted a photo of her out for a midnight viewing w/ Joss, Jed and Drew Goddard. I do hope Joss got a thrill seeing it w/ a theatre full of cheering fans.

Me - because I am slower than black strap molasses in January, I just saw Cabin in the Woods last night & enjoyed it heartily, despite the fact that I am now off for three days at a Cabin in the Woods w/ several friends, but happily no cellar.

But I do believe I will assemble immediately upon my return.

Mazel tov to everyone, especially our Jossir.

To anyone who doubted that Joss could pull it off: nanny nanny boo sucks to all y'all./said with love

QuoterGal | May 04, 16:02 CET

So awesome. I'm very excited to hear what new projects Joss will pull off now that he has more bargaining power and clout. I want him to have a franchise of movies and other projects like Spielberg does.

Ronald_SF | May 04, 16:23 CET

I want to see Joss use his success with the Avengers to convince Universal to allow him to make a Serenity sequel.

jettamesis | May 04, 16:57 CET

They don't own the rights anymore from I remember. He'd have to go back to 20th Century Fox.

Simon | May 04, 17:02 CET

Haven't seen it yet, but from what I've gathered it seems the reason people like it so much is because Joss put such emphasis on the humanity of the characters. Critics are praising the dialog as much or more than the action.

For many people, our favorite moments in Firefly are the scenes when the crew is sitting around the table just talking together, being a family. That Joss has brought this element into a major action film and people are resonating to it is significant. Studios should take notice.

[ edited by Amrita on 2012-05-04 17:26 ]

Amrita | May 04, 17:25 CET

The article has been updated ,Simon, to include the numbers for the midnight showings.

eddy | May 04, 17:39 CET

Cheers.

Simon | May 04, 17:42 CET

I'm betting that a certain studio is sorry now they didn't let Joss do Wonder Woman. Ha!

madmolly | May 04, 17:50 CET

Love it :)

zeitgeist | May 04, 18:03 CET

I understand this is a site for Joss Whedon fans (of which I am one), but let's be honest here - The credit for the Avengers success is mostly going to go to Marvel Studios on this film - For choosing the right director and writer, for choosing to actually go through with "The Avengers," which was rumored to be a "sink or swim" endeavor for them to begin with, for getting all the balls in the right court at the right place at the right time.
Marvel has made some interesting choices for directors (Kenneth Branagh for Thor was by far the best call I think I've seen them made besides Joss Whedon), and it's nice to see those choices pan out.
The source material was laid out by Marvel for this film - He knew what his beginning, middle and end were going to be. A Hollywood blockbuster is easier to pilot if you have numerous eyes on the production, like Favraeu said to Whedon to begin with.
I will say I am a Marvel Comics fanboy, and 10 years ago if you would have told me there would be a chance to see a film like "The Avengers" come to life on screen, I would have doubted that, as so many studios were picking up the rights to different comic book characters. Look how far we've come. Right now, D.C. are kicking themselves because when The Dark Knight Rises ends in July, they're still back at the drawing board as to what to do next and no where closer to a Justice League of America picture.
All that being said, I really hope Joss continues doing what he loves and know he has plenty of new fans who are going to be following him.

spidyredneckjedi | May 04, 19:10 CET

They don't own the rights anymore from I remember. He'd have to go back to 20th Century Fox.

Simon, I was wondering if you could shed some light on this area.

I didn't keep up with the "Firefly" movie rights thing, but when did Universal's option expire? They still own Serenity (for obvious reasons), and so if Joss had carte blanche to do a sequel -- wouldn't they (as in Universal) have right of first refusal? Or would they have to re-negotiate the rights?

Mcjw_serenity | May 04, 19:18 CET

spidyredneckjedi, I completely agree that The Avengers is Marvel's baby. It's Kevin Feige's genius move to hire Joss Whedon and let him do his thing, but overall, it's Joss playing in Marvel's sandbox with its toys and promising to return back in the same shape he got them.

As we all know, Joss loves to play rough with his toys.

What truly excited me about the movie is that 1.) it kind of shows the world what we've known for a while, that Joss Whedon is creative great mind and he can make awesome things, and 2.) related to no. 1, it will give a boost to his career prospects. Even if Joss decides to go entirely into the brave new world of self-distribution and the Internets from now on, having a billion dollar franchise blockbuster on his resume will give him points whenever he goes to pitch anything, forever.

dottikin | May 04, 23:50 CET

spidyredneckjedi, I pretty much agree with you.

Joss deserves all the attention and success in the world imo. He has already received lots of great attention pre-opening, he will receive more now, post-opening. The movie almost definitely would have been poorer without him. But it would have been made without him and likely still have done well financially.

Risch22 | May 04, 23:51 CET

Mcjw, all I know is Universal's licensing department say they can no longer license new material in the Serenity universe. They said the rights reverted to Fox. That happened within the last year, if memory serves.

gossi | May 05, 00:17 CET

I raise my glass to Joss and to the acclaim for good storytelling. This success is duly earned and I hope it sparks many opportunities to come for Joss to share the many stories rolling around in his head.

I second gossi's comment of "Don't make all action films just be noise. Make them have a heart, too." Now that is entertainment I want to invest in.

Zannadoo | May 05, 00:33 CET

I'm at the theater FINALLY and I have never ever seen this 22 screen theater's parking lot completely packed. It is tonight. We had to park way out at the IHOP.

I think he just might be able to buy Fox. ;-)

hann23 | May 05, 01:30 CET

I'm getting all teary-eyed at all the praise and love. I feel like I did when Buffy got her class protector award at the prom. Joss is finally getting his recognition.

almost cookies | May 05, 01:34 CET