here is a compilation of The Avengers photos..hope you like it
Main Details
Directed by Joss Whedon Produced by Kevin Feige Screenplay by Joss Whedon Story by Zak Penn Joss Whedon Based on The Avengers by Stan Lee Jack Kirby Starring Robert Downey, Jr. Chris Evans Mark Ruffalo Chris Hemsworth Scarlett Johansson Jeremy Renner Tom Hiddleston And Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury Music by Alan Silvestri Cinematography Seamus McGarvey Editing by Jeffrey Ford Lisa Lassek Studio Marvel Studios Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures Release date April 11, 2012 (world premiere) May 4, 2012(United States) Running time 143 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $220 million Box office $304 million
The Avengers (classified in the UK and Ireland under the title Marvel Avengers Assemble) is a 2012 American Live Action Science Fiction superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the sixth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was scripted and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson. In The Avengers, Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America to form a team that must stop Thor's brother Loki from enslaving the human race.
Development of The Avengers began when Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch in April 2005. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The Avengers would be released in July 2011. With the signing of Johansson in March 2009, the film was pushed back for a 2012 release. Whedon was brought on board in April 2010 and rewrote the screenplay originally written by Zak Penn. Production began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, in August and New York City in September. The film was converted to 3D in post-production.
The Avengers premiered on April 11, 2012, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California and has since received generally favorable reviews from film critics and grossed $304 million worldwide
Plot
Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility during an evacuation. The Tesseract,2 an energy source of unknown potential, has activated and opened a portal through space, through which the exiled Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston) steps. Loki takes the Tesseract, and uses his abilities to control the minds of several S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel including agent Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), and physicist consultant Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) in order to aid in his getaway.
In response to the attack, Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative. Agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johannson) is sent to India to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), while Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), approaches Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and requests that he review Selvig's research. Fury himself approaches Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) with an assignment to retrieve the Tesseract from Loki. During his exile, Loki encountered the Other (Alexis Denisof), an alien conqueror who in exchange for the Tesseract offers Loki an army of the alien race called the Chitauri in order for him to subjugate Earth.
Rogers, Stark and Romanoff travel to Germany to apprehend Loki, who is recovering iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract's power and demanding that the civilians kneel before him. After a battle with Captain America and Iron Man, Loki surrenders and is escorted back to a S.H.I.E.L.D. plane. However, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki's adoptive brother and the Norse god of thunder, arrives and attempts to free Loki to reason with him. Stark and Rogers confront Thor, and Loki is eventually returned to the Helicarrier, a high-tech, flying aircraft carrier, and placed in a cell designed to hold the Hulk.
The Avengers are divided, both over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. planned to harness the Tesseract to develop weapons as a deterrent against hostile extraterrestrials. As the group argues, Barton and Loki's other possessed agents attack the Helicarrier, disabling its engines in flight and causing Banner to transform into the Hulk. As Stark and Rogers try to restart the damaged engines, Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage, and Romanoff fights Barton. During this fight, a blow to the head knocks Barton unconscious, breaking Loki's mind control. Loki escapes, killing Agent Coulson as he does so, and Thor and the Hulk are each ejected from the ship.
Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into working as a team. Stark and Rogers realize that simply defeating them will not be enough for Loki; he needs to overpower them in a very public way so as to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Using a device built by Selvig, Loki opens a portal to the Chitauri fleet over Manhattan, summoning a Chitauri invasion.
The Avengers rally in defense of New York, but quickly realize they will be overwhelmed as wave after wave of Chitauri descend upon Earth. With help from Barton, Rogers and Stark evacuate civilians, while Banner transforms into the Hulk again and goes after Loki, beating him into submission. Romanoff makes her way to the portal, where Selvig, freed of Loki's control, reveals that Loki's staff can be used to close the portal.
Meanwhile, Fury's superiors attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and takes it through the portal toward the Chitauri fleet before running out of power and plummeting back to Earth, but the Hulk catches him as he falls. Thor escorts Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard, while Fury notes that the Avengers will go their separate ways until such time as a new world-threatening menace emerges.
In a post-credits scene, the Other confers with his master Thanos3 about the attack on Earth. In a second post-credits scene, the Avengers — gathered at a shawarma restaurant — eat
Cast
Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist with a mechanical suit of armor of his own invention. Downey was cast as part of his four-picture deal with Marvel Studios, which includes Iron Man 2 and The Avengers.[6] Downey stated that he initially pushed Whedon to make Stark the lead revealing, "Well, I said, 'I need to be in the opening sequence. I don't know what you're thinking, but Tony needs to drive this thing.' He was like, 'Okay, let's try that.' We tried it and it didn't work, because this is a different sort of thing, the story and the idea and the theme is the theme, and everybody is just an arm of the octopus About the character's evolution from previous films, Downey commented, "In Iron Man, which was an origin story, he was his own epiphany and redemption of sorts. Iron Man 2 is all about not being an island, dealing with legacy issues and making space for others... In The Avengers, he's throwing it down with the others
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America:
A World War II veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum. Evans was cast as part of a deal to star in three Marvel films, in addition to The Avengers.Evans stated that Steve Rogers is much darker in The Avengers, explaining, "It's just about him trying to come to terms with the modern world. You've got to imagine, it's enough of a shock to accept the fact that you're in a completely different time, but everybody you know is dead. Everybody you cared about... He was a soldier, obviously, everybody he went to battle with, all of his brothers in arms, they're all dead. He's just lonely. I think in the beginning it's a fish out of water scene, and it's tough. It's a tough pill for him to swallow. Then comes trying to find a balance with the modern world."[7] Regarding the dynamic between Captain America and Tony Stark, Evans remarked, "I think there's certainly a dichotomy—this kind of friction between myself and Tony Stark, they're polar opposites. One guy is flash and spotlight and smooth, and the other guy is selfless and in the shadows and kind of quiet and they have to get along. They explore that, and it's pretty fun
Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk:
A genius scientist who, because of exposure to gamma radiation, transforms into a monster when enraged or excited. Ruffalo was cast after negotiations between Marvel and Edward Norton broke down About replacing Edward Norton, Ruffalo said, "I'm a friend of Ed's, and yeah, that wasn't a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation's Hamlet." About the character he stated, "He's a guy struggling with two sides of himself—the dark and the light—and everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to Regarding the Hulk's place on the team Ruffalo said, "He's like the teammate none of them are sure they want on their team. He's a loose cannon. It's like, 'Just throw a grenade in the middle of the group and let's hope it turns out well Ruffalo also told New York magazine that unlike previous incarnations, he will actually play the Hulk, "I'm really excited. No one's ever played the Hulk exactly, they've always done CGI. They're going to do the Avatar stop-action, stop-motion capture. So I'll actually play the Hulk. That'll be fun About his preparation for the role Ruffalo joked, "I've lost 15 pounds and I've put another five on of just strapping, pure USDA beef... They want me mean and lean, but they don't want me big and buff Lou Ferrigno voices the Hulk.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor:
The god of thunder based on the Norse deity of the same name. Hemsworth was cast as part of a multiple movie deal He had previously worked with Joss Whedon on The Cabin in the Woods Hemsworth stated that he was able to maintain the strength he built up for Thor by increasing his food intake, consisting of a number of chicken breasts, fish, steak and eggs a day. When asked exactly how much, Hemsworth joked, "My body weight in protein pretty much! About Thor's motivations Hemsworth remarked, "I think [Thor's] motivation is much more of a personal one, in the sense that it's his brother that is stirring things up. Whereas everyone else, it's some bad guy who they've gotta take down. It's a different approach for me, or for Thor. He's constantly having to battle the greater good and what he should do vs. it's his little brother there... I've been frustrated with my brothers at times, or family, but I'm the only one who is allowed to be angry at them. There's a bit of that
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:
A highly trained spy working for the international peacekeeping organization, S.H.I.E.L.D.[21] About the character and her relationship with Hawkeye, Johansson commented, "Our characters have a long history, they've fought together for a long time in a lot of battles in many different countries. We're the two members of this avenging group who are skilled warriors – we have no superpowers. Black Widow is definitely one of the team though. She's not in the cast simply to be a romantic foil or eye candy. She's there to fight, so I never felt like I was the only girl. We all have our various skills and it feels equal".[8] Regarding her training Johansson stated, "Even though Iron Man 2 was 'one-for-them,' I'd never done anything like that before. I'd never been physically driven in something, or a part of something so big. For The Avengers, I've spent so many months training with our stunt team, and fighting all the other actors, it's crazy. I do nothing but fight—all the time
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye:
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and master archer known in the comics as the "World's Greatest Marksman".[23] Renner said it was a very physical role and that he trained physically and practiced archery as much as possible in preparation.[24] About the role, Renner remarked, "When I saw Iron Man, I thought that was a really kick-ass approach to superheroes. Then they told me about this Hawkeye character, and I liked how he wasn't really a superhero; he's just a guy with a high skill set. I could connect to that.[8] Regarding Hawkeye's sniper mentality, Renner stated, "It's a lonely game. He's an outcast. His only connection is to Scarlett's character, Natasha. It's like a left hand/right hand thing. They coexist, and you need them both, especially when it comes to a physical mission."[8] Renner said Hawkeye is not insecure about his humanity explaining, "Quite the opposite, he's the only one who can really take down The Hulk with his [tranquilizer-tipped] arrows. He knows his limitations. But when it comes down to it, there has to be a sense of confidence in any superhero
Tom Hiddleston as Loki:
Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis based on the deity of the same name In regard to his character's evolution from the film Thor, Hiddleston stated, "I think the Loki we see in The Avengers is further advanced. You have to ask yourself the question: how pleasant an experience is it disappearing into a wormhole that has been created by some kind of super nuclear explosion of his own making? So I think by the time Loki shows up in The Avengers he's seen a few things About Loki's motivations, Hiddleston remarked, "At the beginning of The Avengers, he comes to Earth to subjugate it and his idea is to rule the human race as their king. And like all the delusional autocrats of human history, he thinks this is a great idea because if everyone is busy worshipping him, there will be no wars so he will create some kind of world peace by ruling them as a tyrant. But he is also kind of deluded in the fact that he thinks unlimited power will give him self respect so I haven't let go of the fact that he is still motivated by this terrible jealousy and kind of spiritual desolation
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury:
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who was revealed in previous films to be coordinating the "Avenger Initiative". Jackson was brought to the project with a deal containing an option to play the character in up to nine Marvel films. In April 2011, Jackson's script was stolen and leaked on the internet after a digital copy was left in a printer. Jackson stated he does more in The Avengers than in any of the previous films and joked that "You don't have to wait until the end of the movie to see me". About the role Jackson commented, "It's always good to play somebody that is a positive in society as opposed to somebody who is a negative... I tried to make him as honest to the story and as honest to what real-life would seem." Jackson compared the character to Ordell in Jackie Brown, calling him "a nice guy to hang out with, you just don't want to cross him".[28]
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill:
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who works closely with Jackson's Nick Fury. Smulders, whom Joss Whedon once considered for his unproduced live-action Wonder Woman film, was selected from a short list of potential actresses including Morena Baccarin. Smulders' deal would integrate her into nine films Regarding her preparation, Smulders stated, "I hired this amazing black-ops trainer to teach me how to hold a gun, take me to a shooting range, how to hit, how to hold myself, how to walk and basically how to look. I don't do a ton of fighting in the movie, which is why I wasn't offered a trainer, but I wanted to look like I had the ability to. And I really just got down and dirty with the character, but then I finally went on set; when you're about to roll, all the "blubbity blue" you've been working on kind of messes with you. And you become a little bit detached On relating to the character, Smulders commented, "I can relate to her being a mom and being a business woman and trying to work full time and raising a family and having a career. We're asked to do a lot of things these days. I feel she is just all about her job and keeping things goingClark Gregg, Stellan Skarsgård and Gwyneth Paltrow reprise their roles from previous films as Phil Coulson, Erik Selvig, and Pepper Potts respectively Paul Bettany returns to voice JARVIS Frequent Whedon collaborator Alexis Denisof voices the Other, leader of the Chitauri. Avengers co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance in a news report. Harry Dean Stanton also has a cameo as a security guard.
Production
"It goes back to the very first incarnation of The Avengers, it goes to The Ultimates, it goes to everything about it. It makes no sense, it's ridiculous. There's a thunder god, there's a green "id" giant rage monster, there's Captain America from the 40s, there's Tony Stark who definitely doesn't get along with anybody. Ultimately these people don't belong together and the whole movie is about finding yourself from community. And finding that you not only belong together but you need each other, very much. Obviously this will be expressed through punching but it will be the heart of the film."Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers, about the film
Marvel Studios chair-CEO Avi Arad first announced plans to develop an Avengers film in April 2005 after Marvel Enterprises declared independence by pacting with Merrill Lynch to produce a slate of films that would be distributed by Paramount Pictures In September 2006 Marvel confirmed their crossover plans in a brief presentation to Wall Street analysts. The studio's plan was to release individual films for the main characters, to establish their identities and familiarize audiences with them, before merging the characters together in an Avengers movie Marvel Studios announced in July 2007 that screen writer Zak Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk, had been hired to write the film and will be titled, The Avengers Penn confirmed his involvement but said he did not believe work would begin soon
In January 2008, Marvel struck a deal with the striking Writers Guild of America so that the company could go back to work on films based on its comic book characters, including Captain America, Ant-Man and The Avengers After the successful release of Iron Man in May, Marvel announced that The Avengers is scheduled for release in July 2011 In September Paramount signed an agreement with Marvel Studios that locked Paramount in as the worldwide distributor of Marvel's next five self-produced feature films. The partnership extended a 2005 agreement that saw Paramount agreeing to distribute as many as ten Marvel films
In February 2009, Samuel L. Jackson signed a nine-picture deal with Marvel Entertainment to play the role of Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 and other films including vehicles for Captain America, Thor, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D In March it was reported that Scarlett Johansson had replaced Emily Blunt in Iron Man 2, a deal that also tied her to The Avengers An earlier version included the female superhero, Wasp before Johansson's involvement The following day Marvel announced that the release date for The Avengers had been pushed back to May 4, 2012, almost a full year later.In June, Marvel's president of production Kevin Feige confirmed that Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston would reprise their roles as Thor and Loki, respectively, in The Avengers
In July Penn talked about the crossover process, stating, "My job is to kind of shuttle between the different movies and make sure that finally we're mimicking that comic book structure where all of these movies are connected... There's just a board that tracks 'Here's where everything that happens in this movie overlaps with that movie'... I'm pushing them to do as many animatics as possible to animate the movie, to draw boards so that we're all working off the same visual ideas. But the exigencies of production take first priority The following month, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Fiege stated he would introduce more characters into The Avengers and that the Hulk would factor in the film In September, Edward Norton stated that he was open to returning as The Hulk for The Avengers.[54] The next month, executive producer Jon Favreau stated that he would not direct the film but will "...definitely have input and a say". Favreau also expressed concerns stating, "It's going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with 'Avengers' you're going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor [Mixing] the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it's going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we've created
In January 2010, Kevin Feige was asked if it will be difficult to meld the fantasy of Thor with the high-tech science fiction in Iron Man and The Avengers. "No," he said, "because we're doing the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee/Walt Simonson/J. Michael Straczynski Thor. We're not doing the blow-the-dust-off-of-the-old-Norse-book-in-your-library Thor. And in the Thor of the Marvel Universe, there's a race called the Asgardians. And we're linked through this Tree of Life that we're unaware of. It's real science, but we don't know about it yet. The 'Thor' movie is about teaching people that In March it was reported that Penn had completed the first draft of the script, and that Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada and Avengers comic-book writer Brian Michael Bendis had received copies Also in March it was reported that Chris Evans would reprise the role of Captain America in The Avengers. In April 2010, Variety reported that Joss Whedon was close to completing a deal to direct the film, and to rework Penn's script
Filming
Principal photography began on April 25, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico with filming scheduled to continue in Cleveland, Ohio and New York City The following day Paul Bettany confirmed he would return to voice Tony Stark's computerized assistant, JARVIS In May 2011, Gwyneth Paltrow stated that she might "possibly" appear very briefly in the film as Pepper Potts Also in May, Stan Lee confirmed through his Twitter account that he will have a cameo appearance in the film unless they "shoot it on the moon In June, stuntman Jeremy Fitzgerald injured his head while attempting a stunt involving a 30-foot fall from a building after getting hit by an arrow. A Marvel spokesperson later told TMZ.com that, "[Fitzgerald] was fine. He slid briefly along the side of the building. He got right back up and did several more takes In July 2011, secondary filming took place about an hour outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Butler area A chase sequence was also shot in Worthington, Pennsylvania at Creekside Mushroom Farms, the world's largest single-site mushroom farm, which provided 150 miles of abandoned limestone tunnels 300 feet below the ground for filming
In August 2011, production moved to Cleveland, Ohio for four weeks. The city's East 9th Street was chosen as a double for New York City's 42nd Street to be used in climactic battle scenes.[84] Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the Columbus, Ohio-based 391st Military Police Battalion provided background action during the battle scenes in Cleveland. Staff Sgt. Michael T. Landis stated the use of real soldiers made the scenes more realistic and helped portray the Army in a more positive light, explaining that, "It's easy for us to make on-the-spot corrections to tactics and uniforms, the director actually took our recommendation on one scene and let us all engage the enemy as opposed to only the gunners in the trucks engaging".[85] Filming also took place in the large vacuum chamber at the NASA Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio.[86] The station's Space Power Facility was used to portray a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility.[87] A series of explosions were filmed at the Chevrolet powertrain plant in Parma, Ohio as part of the battle sequence that began in Cleveland.[88] Scenes from the film were also shot on Public Square and the Detroit–Superior Bridge.[89] The southwest quadrant of Public Square was turned into Stuttgart, Germany, for filming.[90]
In September 2011, production moved to New York City for two days to wrap up filming.[91] Filming locations in New York City included Park Avenue and Central Park.[92][93] For scenes taking place in Manhattan, visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison shot aerial footage for over three days to use as background plates, elaborating "My focus is to get as much aerial work in as possible for the audience to see the big expanses, the wide establishing shots, while also making sure that the effects work doesn't look too computer generated. We're getting much better at making entirely computer-generated environments, but there is no substitute for starting with a real image and adding what you need
Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey stated that he composed the frame with an 1.85:1 aspect ratio to cope with the varying heights of the main characters, explaining that "shooting 1.85:1 is kind of unusual for an epic film like this, but we needed the height in the screen to be able to frame in all the characters like Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow, who is much smaller. We had to give them all precedence and width within the frame. Also, Joss [Whedon] knew the final battle sequence was going to be this extravaganza in Manhattan, so the height and vertical scale of the buildings was going to be really important. The film was McGarvey's first venture shooting with a digital camera; the Arri Alexa The Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera was used for some shots and high-speed shots were captured on 35 mm film with the Arriflex 435 About his visual approach, McGarvey remarked "Joss and I were keen on having a very visceral and naturalistic quality to the image. We wanted this to feel immersive and did not want a 'comic book look' that might distance an audience with the engagement of the film. We moved the camera a lot on Steadicam, cranes and on dollies to create kinetic images; and we chose angles that were dramatic, like low angles for heroic imagery
Post Production
In December 2011, Disney announced that the film will be converted to 3D About the 3D conversion Whedon stated, "Yeah, it's fun!...I'm not a big fan of extreme long lens, talky movies - I like to see the space I'm in and relate to it, so 3D kinda fits my aesthetic anyway. And the technology has advanced so far in the past couple years." Whedon also said that "there definitely are movies that shouldn't be in 3D" but "The Avengers isn't obnoxiously 3D. There's no, 'Oh look, we're going to spend 20 minutes going through this tunnel because it's in 3D!' And no one is pointing at the screen the entire time. But it's an action movie. Things tend to hurtle toward the screen anyway
In January 2012, it was reported that The Avengers would be digitally remastered for IMAX 3D and set to open in IMAX theaters on May 4, 2012, the same day it opens in regular theaters. The IMAX release of The Avengers follows Marvel's release of Iron Man 2 and Thor on IMAX screens.An additional post-credits scene involving the Avengers eating shawarma was shot on April 12, 2012, a day after the world premiere The scene is included only in the North American release of the film
Music
In November 2011, Marvel announced that Alan Silvestri, who scored Captain America: The First Avenger, would write and compose the score for The Avengers. Silvestri stated, "This is actually a very unique experience [for me]. I've worked on films where there have been a number of stars and certainly worked on films where there have been characters of equal weight in terms of their level of importance and profile in the film, but this one is somewhat extreme in that regard because each of these characters has their own world and it's a very different situation. It's very challenging to look for a way to give everyone the weight and consideration they need, but at the same time the film is really about the coming together of these characters, which implies that there is this entity called the Avengers which really has to be representative of all of them together Silvestri developed the score with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, England Whedon described the score as "old school", saying "the score is very old-fashioned, which is why [Silvestri] was letter perfect for this movie because he can give you the heightened emotion, the [Hans Zimmer] school of 'I'm just feeling a lot right now!' but he can also be extraordinarily cue and character specific, which I love
In March 2012, American alternative rock band Soundgarden announced through their official Facebook page that they have written a song to be included on the film's soundtrack, entitled "Live to Rise Additionally, Indian rock band Agnee released a music video for their single "Hello Andhero", which will serve as the theme song for the Indian release of the film The following day, Marvel revealed the details for the soundtrack, which was released on May 1, 2012, the same day as the score
The film was promoted at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, during which a teaser trailer narrated by Samuel L. Jackson was shown followed by an introduction of the cast.[34] In June 2011, Marvel Studios announced that it would not hold a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International after studios executives decided it was not prepared to compete with its own past and fan expectations with filming still in production.[115] The following month, a teaser trailer that was meant to be the post-credits scene of Captain America: The First Avenger was briefly leaked online. Entertainment Weekly speculated it came from a preview screening and described the footage as "shaky, fuzzy, flickering and obviously filmed on a cell phone".[116]
In August 2011, Walt Disney Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Studios presented a look at Walt Disney Studios' upcoming film slate, which included Marvel's The Avengers, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. The presentation featured footage from the film and appearances by the cast members.[117] Later in August, Disney dismissed Marvel's executive vice president of worldwide marketing, vice president of worldwide marketing and manager of worldwide marketing to bring their functions in-house.
In October 2011, Marvel Studios held a presentation at the New York Comic Con that featured new footage and a panel discussion including producer Kevin Feige and several cast members The first full-length trailer was also released in October. Comic Book Resources said, "The two-minute teaser handily establishes the movie's premise" and is "heavy on the assembling, but fans are also treated to plenty of action, as well glimpses [sic] of Iron Man's new armor and, best of all, the new take on the Incredible Hulk. Naturally, Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark gets the best lines However, The Hollywood Reporter called it, "Awesome. Or it would be if we hadn't seen all of this before and expected every single thing that we saw in the trailer The trailer which debuted exclusively on iTunes Movie Trailers, was downloaded over 10 million times in its first 24 hours, breaking the website's record for the most-viewed trailer However, this record was later surpassed by the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises which was downloaded more than 12.5 million times in its first 24 hours A second full-length trailer was released on iTunes in February 2012, reaching a record 13.7 milllion downloads in 24 hours, besting the previous record set by The Dark Knight Rises The theatrical trailers of The Avengers appeared with many films, including Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 21 Jump Street and The Hunger Games
In January 2012, Marvel Studios held a global Twitter chat. The 30-minute live tweeting event featured writer/director Joss Whedon, cast members Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg and a 10-second tease of the 30-second Super Bowl advert that would air during Super Bowl XLVI in February According to the Los Angeles Times, Disney paid an estimated $4 million for the 30-second spot On May 1, 2012, executives from Marvel Studios, along with actors Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg, rung the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in honor of the theatrical release of The Avengers
Release
In February 2012, Disney announced that the film's title would be changed in the United Kingdom to avoid confusion with the British TV series of the same name, as well as its 1998 film adaptation, but this led to confusion over the film's actual title. Empire reported that the film would be titled Marvel Avengers Assemble while The Hollywood Reporter said that it would be called simply Avengers Assemble Production notes for the film call it Marvel's Avengers Assemble However, David Cox of The Guardian, in arguing that it was one of the worst film titles ever, considered this to be an error, albeit grammatically clearer than Marvel Avengers Assemble, the title under which it was released and classified by the British Board of Film Classification and the Irish Film Classification Office.Despite this confusion, producer Kevin Feige said that decisions like that aren't made lightly and there are lots of marketing research, lawyers and things that get into the mix on it
The world premiere for The Avengers was held on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California The film closed the 11th Annual Tribeca Film Festival with a screening on April 28, 2012
Box Office
Pre-release audience tracking showed that interest for the film was "incredibly strong", with interest very high among men and strong among women. The tracking suggested that the film could gross over $100 million during its three day opening weekend in North America, with online ticket pre-sales selling out.[144] Further tracking suggested that the gross could exceed $150 million.[145] The Avengers tracked ahead of 2008's The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) and 2012's The Hunger Games ($152.5 million), which held the record for the second and third best opening weekends behind 2011's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($169 million).[145] On MovieTickets.com, North American ticket presales during the week before release exceeded those of Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Thor combined during the same period, by over 150%.
Sequel
In October 2011, producer Kevin Feige said during the New York Comic Con, "Iron Man 3 will be the first of what we sort of refer to as phase two of this saga that will culminate, God willing, in Avengers 2 In March 2012, Joss Whedon stated that he would want a sequel to be "...smaller. More personal. More painful. By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself At the premiere of The Avengers, Kevin Feige said they have an option for Whedon to direct The Avengers 2 when and if the time comes.
The Avengers TM & © Disney
Directed by Joss Whedon Produced by Kevin Feige Screenplay by Joss Whedon Story by Zak Penn Joss Whedon Based on The Avengers by Stan Lee Jack Kirby Starring Robert Downey, Jr. Chris Evans Mark Ruffalo Chris Hemsworth Scarlett Johansson Jeremy Renner Tom Hiddleston And Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury Music by Alan Silvestri Cinematography Seamus McGarvey Editing by Jeffrey Ford Lisa Lassek Studio Marvel Studios Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures Release date April 11, 2012 (world premiere) May 4, 2012(United States) Running time 143 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $220 million Box office $304 million
The Avengers (classified in the UK and Ireland under the title Marvel Avengers Assemble) is a 2012 American Live Action Science Fiction superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the sixth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was scripted and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson. In The Avengers, Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America to form a team that must stop Thor's brother Loki from enslaving the human race.
Development of The Avengers began when Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch in April 2005. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The Avengers would be released in July 2011. With the signing of Johansson in March 2009, the film was pushed back for a 2012 release. Whedon was brought on board in April 2010 and rewrote the screenplay originally written by Zak Penn. Production began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, in August and New York City in September. The film was converted to 3D in post-production.
The Avengers premiered on April 11, 2012, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California and has since received generally favorable reviews from film critics and grossed $304 million worldwide
Plot
Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility during an evacuation. The Tesseract,2 an energy source of unknown potential, has activated and opened a portal through space, through which the exiled Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston) steps. Loki takes the Tesseract, and uses his abilities to control the minds of several S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel including agent Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), and physicist consultant Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) in order to aid in his getaway.
In response to the attack, Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative. Agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johannson) is sent to India to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), while Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), approaches Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and requests that he review Selvig's research. Fury himself approaches Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) with an assignment to retrieve the Tesseract from Loki. During his exile, Loki encountered the Other (Alexis Denisof), an alien conqueror who in exchange for the Tesseract offers Loki an army of the alien race called the Chitauri in order for him to subjugate Earth.
Rogers, Stark and Romanoff travel to Germany to apprehend Loki, who is recovering iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract's power and demanding that the civilians kneel before him. After a battle with Captain America and Iron Man, Loki surrenders and is escorted back to a S.H.I.E.L.D. plane. However, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki's adoptive brother and the Norse god of thunder, arrives and attempts to free Loki to reason with him. Stark and Rogers confront Thor, and Loki is eventually returned to the Helicarrier, a high-tech, flying aircraft carrier, and placed in a cell designed to hold the Hulk.
The Avengers are divided, both over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. planned to harness the Tesseract to develop weapons as a deterrent against hostile extraterrestrials. As the group argues, Barton and Loki's other possessed agents attack the Helicarrier, disabling its engines in flight and causing Banner to transform into the Hulk. As Stark and Rogers try to restart the damaged engines, Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage, and Romanoff fights Barton. During this fight, a blow to the head knocks Barton unconscious, breaking Loki's mind control. Loki escapes, killing Agent Coulson as he does so, and Thor and the Hulk are each ejected from the ship.
Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into working as a team. Stark and Rogers realize that simply defeating them will not be enough for Loki; he needs to overpower them in a very public way so as to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Using a device built by Selvig, Loki opens a portal to the Chitauri fleet over Manhattan, summoning a Chitauri invasion.
The Avengers rally in defense of New York, but quickly realize they will be overwhelmed as wave after wave of Chitauri descend upon Earth. With help from Barton, Rogers and Stark evacuate civilians, while Banner transforms into the Hulk again and goes after Loki, beating him into submission. Romanoff makes her way to the portal, where Selvig, freed of Loki's control, reveals that Loki's staff can be used to close the portal.
Meanwhile, Fury's superiors attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and takes it through the portal toward the Chitauri fleet before running out of power and plummeting back to Earth, but the Hulk catches him as he falls. Thor escorts Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard, while Fury notes that the Avengers will go their separate ways until such time as a new world-threatening menace emerges.
In a post-credits scene, the Other confers with his master Thanos3 about the attack on Earth. In a second post-credits scene, the Avengers — gathered at a shawarma restaurant — eat
Cast
Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist with a mechanical suit of armor of his own invention. Downey was cast as part of his four-picture deal with Marvel Studios, which includes Iron Man 2 and The Avengers.[6] Downey stated that he initially pushed Whedon to make Stark the lead revealing, "Well, I said, 'I need to be in the opening sequence. I don't know what you're thinking, but Tony needs to drive this thing.' He was like, 'Okay, let's try that.' We tried it and it didn't work, because this is a different sort of thing, the story and the idea and the theme is the theme, and everybody is just an arm of the octopus About the character's evolution from previous films, Downey commented, "In Iron Man, which was an origin story, he was his own epiphany and redemption of sorts. Iron Man 2 is all about not being an island, dealing with legacy issues and making space for others... In The Avengers, he's throwing it down with the others
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America:
A World War II veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum. Evans was cast as part of a deal to star in three Marvel films, in addition to The Avengers.Evans stated that Steve Rogers is much darker in The Avengers, explaining, "It's just about him trying to come to terms with the modern world. You've got to imagine, it's enough of a shock to accept the fact that you're in a completely different time, but everybody you know is dead. Everybody you cared about... He was a soldier, obviously, everybody he went to battle with, all of his brothers in arms, they're all dead. He's just lonely. I think in the beginning it's a fish out of water scene, and it's tough. It's a tough pill for him to swallow. Then comes trying to find a balance with the modern world."[7] Regarding the dynamic between Captain America and Tony Stark, Evans remarked, "I think there's certainly a dichotomy—this kind of friction between myself and Tony Stark, they're polar opposites. One guy is flash and spotlight and smooth, and the other guy is selfless and in the shadows and kind of quiet and they have to get along. They explore that, and it's pretty fun
Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk:
A genius scientist who, because of exposure to gamma radiation, transforms into a monster when enraged or excited. Ruffalo was cast after negotiations between Marvel and Edward Norton broke down About replacing Edward Norton, Ruffalo said, "I'm a friend of Ed's, and yeah, that wasn't a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation's Hamlet." About the character he stated, "He's a guy struggling with two sides of himself—the dark and the light—and everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to Regarding the Hulk's place on the team Ruffalo said, "He's like the teammate none of them are sure they want on their team. He's a loose cannon. It's like, 'Just throw a grenade in the middle of the group and let's hope it turns out well Ruffalo also told New York magazine that unlike previous incarnations, he will actually play the Hulk, "I'm really excited. No one's ever played the Hulk exactly, they've always done CGI. They're going to do the Avatar stop-action, stop-motion capture. So I'll actually play the Hulk. That'll be fun About his preparation for the role Ruffalo joked, "I've lost 15 pounds and I've put another five on of just strapping, pure USDA beef... They want me mean and lean, but they don't want me big and buff Lou Ferrigno voices the Hulk.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor:
The god of thunder based on the Norse deity of the same name. Hemsworth was cast as part of a multiple movie deal He had previously worked with Joss Whedon on The Cabin in the Woods Hemsworth stated that he was able to maintain the strength he built up for Thor by increasing his food intake, consisting of a number of chicken breasts, fish, steak and eggs a day. When asked exactly how much, Hemsworth joked, "My body weight in protein pretty much! About Thor's motivations Hemsworth remarked, "I think [Thor's] motivation is much more of a personal one, in the sense that it's his brother that is stirring things up. Whereas everyone else, it's some bad guy who they've gotta take down. It's a different approach for me, or for Thor. He's constantly having to battle the greater good and what he should do vs. it's his little brother there... I've been frustrated with my brothers at times, or family, but I'm the only one who is allowed to be angry at them. There's a bit of that
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:
A highly trained spy working for the international peacekeeping organization, S.H.I.E.L.D.[21] About the character and her relationship with Hawkeye, Johansson commented, "Our characters have a long history, they've fought together for a long time in a lot of battles in many different countries. We're the two members of this avenging group who are skilled warriors – we have no superpowers. Black Widow is definitely one of the team though. She's not in the cast simply to be a romantic foil or eye candy. She's there to fight, so I never felt like I was the only girl. We all have our various skills and it feels equal".[8] Regarding her training Johansson stated, "Even though Iron Man 2 was 'one-for-them,' I'd never done anything like that before. I'd never been physically driven in something, or a part of something so big. For The Avengers, I've spent so many months training with our stunt team, and fighting all the other actors, it's crazy. I do nothing but fight—all the time
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye:
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and master archer known in the comics as the "World's Greatest Marksman".[23] Renner said it was a very physical role and that he trained physically and practiced archery as much as possible in preparation.[24] About the role, Renner remarked, "When I saw Iron Man, I thought that was a really kick-ass approach to superheroes. Then they told me about this Hawkeye character, and I liked how he wasn't really a superhero; he's just a guy with a high skill set. I could connect to that.[8] Regarding Hawkeye's sniper mentality, Renner stated, "It's a lonely game. He's an outcast. His only connection is to Scarlett's character, Natasha. It's like a left hand/right hand thing. They coexist, and you need them both, especially when it comes to a physical mission."[8] Renner said Hawkeye is not insecure about his humanity explaining, "Quite the opposite, he's the only one who can really take down The Hulk with his [tranquilizer-tipped] arrows. He knows his limitations. But when it comes down to it, there has to be a sense of confidence in any superhero
Tom Hiddleston as Loki:
Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis based on the deity of the same name In regard to his character's evolution from the film Thor, Hiddleston stated, "I think the Loki we see in The Avengers is further advanced. You have to ask yourself the question: how pleasant an experience is it disappearing into a wormhole that has been created by some kind of super nuclear explosion of his own making? So I think by the time Loki shows up in The Avengers he's seen a few things About Loki's motivations, Hiddleston remarked, "At the beginning of The Avengers, he comes to Earth to subjugate it and his idea is to rule the human race as their king. And like all the delusional autocrats of human history, he thinks this is a great idea because if everyone is busy worshipping him, there will be no wars so he will create some kind of world peace by ruling them as a tyrant. But he is also kind of deluded in the fact that he thinks unlimited power will give him self respect so I haven't let go of the fact that he is still motivated by this terrible jealousy and kind of spiritual desolation
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury:
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who was revealed in previous films to be coordinating the "Avenger Initiative". Jackson was brought to the project with a deal containing an option to play the character in up to nine Marvel films. In April 2011, Jackson's script was stolen and leaked on the internet after a digital copy was left in a printer. Jackson stated he does more in The Avengers than in any of the previous films and joked that "You don't have to wait until the end of the movie to see me". About the role Jackson commented, "It's always good to play somebody that is a positive in society as opposed to somebody who is a negative... I tried to make him as honest to the story and as honest to what real-life would seem." Jackson compared the character to Ordell in Jackie Brown, calling him "a nice guy to hang out with, you just don't want to cross him".[28]
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill:
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who works closely with Jackson's Nick Fury. Smulders, whom Joss Whedon once considered for his unproduced live-action Wonder Woman film, was selected from a short list of potential actresses including Morena Baccarin. Smulders' deal would integrate her into nine films Regarding her preparation, Smulders stated, "I hired this amazing black-ops trainer to teach me how to hold a gun, take me to a shooting range, how to hit, how to hold myself, how to walk and basically how to look. I don't do a ton of fighting in the movie, which is why I wasn't offered a trainer, but I wanted to look like I had the ability to. And I really just got down and dirty with the character, but then I finally went on set; when you're about to roll, all the "blubbity blue" you've been working on kind of messes with you. And you become a little bit detached On relating to the character, Smulders commented, "I can relate to her being a mom and being a business woman and trying to work full time and raising a family and having a career. We're asked to do a lot of things these days. I feel she is just all about her job and keeping things goingClark Gregg, Stellan Skarsgård and Gwyneth Paltrow reprise their roles from previous films as Phil Coulson, Erik Selvig, and Pepper Potts respectively Paul Bettany returns to voice JARVIS Frequent Whedon collaborator Alexis Denisof voices the Other, leader of the Chitauri. Avengers co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance in a news report. Harry Dean Stanton also has a cameo as a security guard.
Production
"It goes back to the very first incarnation of The Avengers, it goes to The Ultimates, it goes to everything about it. It makes no sense, it's ridiculous. There's a thunder god, there's a green "id" giant rage monster, there's Captain America from the 40s, there's Tony Stark who definitely doesn't get along with anybody. Ultimately these people don't belong together and the whole movie is about finding yourself from community. And finding that you not only belong together but you need each other, very much. Obviously this will be expressed through punching but it will be the heart of the film."Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers, about the film
Marvel Studios chair-CEO Avi Arad first announced plans to develop an Avengers film in April 2005 after Marvel Enterprises declared independence by pacting with Merrill Lynch to produce a slate of films that would be distributed by Paramount Pictures In September 2006 Marvel confirmed their crossover plans in a brief presentation to Wall Street analysts. The studio's plan was to release individual films for the main characters, to establish their identities and familiarize audiences with them, before merging the characters together in an Avengers movie Marvel Studios announced in July 2007 that screen writer Zak Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk, had been hired to write the film and will be titled, The Avengers Penn confirmed his involvement but said he did not believe work would begin soon
In January 2008, Marvel struck a deal with the striking Writers Guild of America so that the company could go back to work on films based on its comic book characters, including Captain America, Ant-Man and The Avengers After the successful release of Iron Man in May, Marvel announced that The Avengers is scheduled for release in July 2011 In September Paramount signed an agreement with Marvel Studios that locked Paramount in as the worldwide distributor of Marvel's next five self-produced feature films. The partnership extended a 2005 agreement that saw Paramount agreeing to distribute as many as ten Marvel films
In February 2009, Samuel L. Jackson signed a nine-picture deal with Marvel Entertainment to play the role of Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 and other films including vehicles for Captain America, Thor, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D In March it was reported that Scarlett Johansson had replaced Emily Blunt in Iron Man 2, a deal that also tied her to The Avengers An earlier version included the female superhero, Wasp before Johansson's involvement The following day Marvel announced that the release date for The Avengers had been pushed back to May 4, 2012, almost a full year later.In June, Marvel's president of production Kevin Feige confirmed that Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston would reprise their roles as Thor and Loki, respectively, in The Avengers
In July Penn talked about the crossover process, stating, "My job is to kind of shuttle between the different movies and make sure that finally we're mimicking that comic book structure where all of these movies are connected... There's just a board that tracks 'Here's where everything that happens in this movie overlaps with that movie'... I'm pushing them to do as many animatics as possible to animate the movie, to draw boards so that we're all working off the same visual ideas. But the exigencies of production take first priority The following month, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Fiege stated he would introduce more characters into The Avengers and that the Hulk would factor in the film In September, Edward Norton stated that he was open to returning as The Hulk for The Avengers.[54] The next month, executive producer Jon Favreau stated that he would not direct the film but will "...definitely have input and a say". Favreau also expressed concerns stating, "It's going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with 'Avengers' you're going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor [Mixing] the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it's going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we've created
In January 2010, Kevin Feige was asked if it will be difficult to meld the fantasy of Thor with the high-tech science fiction in Iron Man and The Avengers. "No," he said, "because we're doing the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee/Walt Simonson/J. Michael Straczynski Thor. We're not doing the blow-the-dust-off-of-the-old-Norse-book-in-your-library Thor. And in the Thor of the Marvel Universe, there's a race called the Asgardians. And we're linked through this Tree of Life that we're unaware of. It's real science, but we don't know about it yet. The 'Thor' movie is about teaching people that In March it was reported that Penn had completed the first draft of the script, and that Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada and Avengers comic-book writer Brian Michael Bendis had received copies Also in March it was reported that Chris Evans would reprise the role of Captain America in The Avengers. In April 2010, Variety reported that Joss Whedon was close to completing a deal to direct the film, and to rework Penn's script
Filming
Principal photography began on April 25, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico with filming scheduled to continue in Cleveland, Ohio and New York City The following day Paul Bettany confirmed he would return to voice Tony Stark's computerized assistant, JARVIS In May 2011, Gwyneth Paltrow stated that she might "possibly" appear very briefly in the film as Pepper Potts Also in May, Stan Lee confirmed through his Twitter account that he will have a cameo appearance in the film unless they "shoot it on the moon In June, stuntman Jeremy Fitzgerald injured his head while attempting a stunt involving a 30-foot fall from a building after getting hit by an arrow. A Marvel spokesperson later told TMZ.com that, "[Fitzgerald] was fine. He slid briefly along the side of the building. He got right back up and did several more takes In July 2011, secondary filming took place about an hour outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Butler area A chase sequence was also shot in Worthington, Pennsylvania at Creekside Mushroom Farms, the world's largest single-site mushroom farm, which provided 150 miles of abandoned limestone tunnels 300 feet below the ground for filming
In August 2011, production moved to Cleveland, Ohio for four weeks. The city's East 9th Street was chosen as a double for New York City's 42nd Street to be used in climactic battle scenes.[84] Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the Columbus, Ohio-based 391st Military Police Battalion provided background action during the battle scenes in Cleveland. Staff Sgt. Michael T. Landis stated the use of real soldiers made the scenes more realistic and helped portray the Army in a more positive light, explaining that, "It's easy for us to make on-the-spot corrections to tactics and uniforms, the director actually took our recommendation on one scene and let us all engage the enemy as opposed to only the gunners in the trucks engaging".[85] Filming also took place in the large vacuum chamber at the NASA Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio.[86] The station's Space Power Facility was used to portray a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility.[87] A series of explosions were filmed at the Chevrolet powertrain plant in Parma, Ohio as part of the battle sequence that began in Cleveland.[88] Scenes from the film were also shot on Public Square and the Detroit–Superior Bridge.[89] The southwest quadrant of Public Square was turned into Stuttgart, Germany, for filming.[90]
In September 2011, production moved to New York City for two days to wrap up filming.[91] Filming locations in New York City included Park Avenue and Central Park.[92][93] For scenes taking place in Manhattan, visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison shot aerial footage for over three days to use as background plates, elaborating "My focus is to get as much aerial work in as possible for the audience to see the big expanses, the wide establishing shots, while also making sure that the effects work doesn't look too computer generated. We're getting much better at making entirely computer-generated environments, but there is no substitute for starting with a real image and adding what you need
Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey stated that he composed the frame with an 1.85:1 aspect ratio to cope with the varying heights of the main characters, explaining that "shooting 1.85:1 is kind of unusual for an epic film like this, but we needed the height in the screen to be able to frame in all the characters like Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow, who is much smaller. We had to give them all precedence and width within the frame. Also, Joss [Whedon] knew the final battle sequence was going to be this extravaganza in Manhattan, so the height and vertical scale of the buildings was going to be really important. The film was McGarvey's first venture shooting with a digital camera; the Arri Alexa The Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera was used for some shots and high-speed shots were captured on 35 mm film with the Arriflex 435 About his visual approach, McGarvey remarked "Joss and I were keen on having a very visceral and naturalistic quality to the image. We wanted this to feel immersive and did not want a 'comic book look' that might distance an audience with the engagement of the film. We moved the camera a lot on Steadicam, cranes and on dollies to create kinetic images; and we chose angles that were dramatic, like low angles for heroic imagery
Post Production
In December 2011, Disney announced that the film will be converted to 3D About the 3D conversion Whedon stated, "Yeah, it's fun!...I'm not a big fan of extreme long lens, talky movies - I like to see the space I'm in and relate to it, so 3D kinda fits my aesthetic anyway. And the technology has advanced so far in the past couple years." Whedon also said that "there definitely are movies that shouldn't be in 3D" but "The Avengers isn't obnoxiously 3D. There's no, 'Oh look, we're going to spend 20 minutes going through this tunnel because it's in 3D!' And no one is pointing at the screen the entire time. But it's an action movie. Things tend to hurtle toward the screen anyway
In January 2012, it was reported that The Avengers would be digitally remastered for IMAX 3D and set to open in IMAX theaters on May 4, 2012, the same day it opens in regular theaters. The IMAX release of The Avengers follows Marvel's release of Iron Man 2 and Thor on IMAX screens.An additional post-credits scene involving the Avengers eating shawarma was shot on April 12, 2012, a day after the world premiere The scene is included only in the North American release of the film
Music
In November 2011, Marvel announced that Alan Silvestri, who scored Captain America: The First Avenger, would write and compose the score for The Avengers. Silvestri stated, "This is actually a very unique experience [for me]. I've worked on films where there have been a number of stars and certainly worked on films where there have been characters of equal weight in terms of their level of importance and profile in the film, but this one is somewhat extreme in that regard because each of these characters has their own world and it's a very different situation. It's very challenging to look for a way to give everyone the weight and consideration they need, but at the same time the film is really about the coming together of these characters, which implies that there is this entity called the Avengers which really has to be representative of all of them together Silvestri developed the score with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, England Whedon described the score as "old school", saying "the score is very old-fashioned, which is why [Silvestri] was letter perfect for this movie because he can give you the heightened emotion, the [Hans Zimmer] school of 'I'm just feeling a lot right now!' but he can also be extraordinarily cue and character specific, which I love
In March 2012, American alternative rock band Soundgarden announced through their official Facebook page that they have written a song to be included on the film's soundtrack, entitled "Live to Rise Additionally, Indian rock band Agnee released a music video for their single "Hello Andhero", which will serve as the theme song for the Indian release of the film The following day, Marvel revealed the details for the soundtrack, which was released on May 1, 2012, the same day as the score
The film was promoted at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, during which a teaser trailer narrated by Samuel L. Jackson was shown followed by an introduction of the cast.[34] In June 2011, Marvel Studios announced that it would not hold a panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International after studios executives decided it was not prepared to compete with its own past and fan expectations with filming still in production.[115] The following month, a teaser trailer that was meant to be the post-credits scene of Captain America: The First Avenger was briefly leaked online. Entertainment Weekly speculated it came from a preview screening and described the footage as "shaky, fuzzy, flickering and obviously filmed on a cell phone".[116]
In August 2011, Walt Disney Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Studios presented a look at Walt Disney Studios' upcoming film slate, which included Marvel's The Avengers, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. The presentation featured footage from the film and appearances by the cast members.[117] Later in August, Disney dismissed Marvel's executive vice president of worldwide marketing, vice president of worldwide marketing and manager of worldwide marketing to bring their functions in-house.
In October 2011, Marvel Studios held a presentation at the New York Comic Con that featured new footage and a panel discussion including producer Kevin Feige and several cast members The first full-length trailer was also released in October. Comic Book Resources said, "The two-minute teaser handily establishes the movie's premise" and is "heavy on the assembling, but fans are also treated to plenty of action, as well glimpses [sic] of Iron Man's new armor and, best of all, the new take on the Incredible Hulk. Naturally, Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark gets the best lines However, The Hollywood Reporter called it, "Awesome. Or it would be if we hadn't seen all of this before and expected every single thing that we saw in the trailer The trailer which debuted exclusively on iTunes Movie Trailers, was downloaded over 10 million times in its first 24 hours, breaking the website's record for the most-viewed trailer However, this record was later surpassed by the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises which was downloaded more than 12.5 million times in its first 24 hours A second full-length trailer was released on iTunes in February 2012, reaching a record 13.7 milllion downloads in 24 hours, besting the previous record set by The Dark Knight Rises The theatrical trailers of The Avengers appeared with many films, including Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 21 Jump Street and The Hunger Games
In January 2012, Marvel Studios held a global Twitter chat. The 30-minute live tweeting event featured writer/director Joss Whedon, cast members Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg and a 10-second tease of the 30-second Super Bowl advert that would air during Super Bowl XLVI in February According to the Los Angeles Times, Disney paid an estimated $4 million for the 30-second spot On May 1, 2012, executives from Marvel Studios, along with actors Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg, rung the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in honor of the theatrical release of The Avengers
Release
In February 2012, Disney announced that the film's title would be changed in the United Kingdom to avoid confusion with the British TV series of the same name, as well as its 1998 film adaptation, but this led to confusion over the film's actual title. Empire reported that the film would be titled Marvel Avengers Assemble while The Hollywood Reporter said that it would be called simply Avengers Assemble Production notes for the film call it Marvel's Avengers Assemble However, David Cox of The Guardian, in arguing that it was one of the worst film titles ever, considered this to be an error, albeit grammatically clearer than Marvel Avengers Assemble, the title under which it was released and classified by the British Board of Film Classification and the Irish Film Classification Office.Despite this confusion, producer Kevin Feige said that decisions like that aren't made lightly and there are lots of marketing research, lawyers and things that get into the mix on it
The world premiere for The Avengers was held on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California The film closed the 11th Annual Tribeca Film Festival with a screening on April 28, 2012
Box Office
Pre-release audience tracking showed that interest for the film was "incredibly strong", with interest very high among men and strong among women. The tracking suggested that the film could gross over $100 million during its three day opening weekend in North America, with online ticket pre-sales selling out.[144] Further tracking suggested that the gross could exceed $150 million.[145] The Avengers tracked ahead of 2008's The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) and 2012's The Hunger Games ($152.5 million), which held the record for the second and third best opening weekends behind 2011's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($169 million).[145] On MovieTickets.com, North American ticket presales during the week before release exceeded those of Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Thor combined during the same period, by over 150%.
Sequel
In October 2011, producer Kevin Feige said during the New York Comic Con, "Iron Man 3 will be the first of what we sort of refer to as phase two of this saga that will culminate, God willing, in Avengers 2 In March 2012, Joss Whedon stated that he would want a sequel to be "...smaller. More personal. More painful. By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself At the premiere of The Avengers, Kevin Feige said they have an option for Whedon to direct The Avengers 2 when and if the time comes.
The Avengers TM & © Disney
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