The Avengers smashed a bunch of records and has grossed $1.46 billion worldwide and $616.8 million domestically. That domestic gross makes it the third-highest-grossing film ever, so it shouldn’t be a surprise Marvel and Disney want to make a sequel (and a TV show, and a lunchbox, and a desert topping, probably). What wasn’t known yet was whether Joss Whedon would return to write and direct the second movie. At San Diego Comic-Con he said he was still undecided. Now it’s settled.
During Disney’s quarterly earnings conference call yesterday CEO Bob Iger announced Whedon would write and direct the Avengers sequel. Iger also said they planned to “leverage the power of the Avengers” across the whole company. Translate that as, “We’re going to milk this cow till it keels over dead. Then we’ll make wallets from its skin. Wallets for ALL THIS MONEY. Mwahahahaha!”
Whedon has also agreed to help develop that live-action Avengers TV show for Marvel and ABC, and you can follow Warming Glow for updates on the TV production. Here’s the full statement from Marvel:
“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.” [Marvel via WIRED]
The sequel will likely hit theaters in 2015 and is currently titled The Avengers 2, but may we suggest The Avengers: OH SWEET JESUS YES instead? Or perhaps The Avengers: Shut Up And Take My Money. If that doesn’t work, perhaps they could call it The Avengers: Bringing The Party To You . . .
[Sources: WIRED, Variety, THR, The Frogman, Tastefully Offensive]