# The best part of the fact that The Avengers is about to make a Gazillion dollars is... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869 "2012-05-04T13:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/41 "2012-05-06T13:16:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > On a more serious note, success isn’t always a good thing for creative types. Sometimes it turns out that they do their best work under limitations. Give them complete freedom and they produce self-indulgent crap. I see exactly what you are saying but I think The Avengers proves he can handle unlimited resources. Now he gets those same resources but for a blank slate (in theory). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/42 "2012-05-06T15:15:27Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > As a tv series? I doubt it. ☹ First, Fox still owns the rights to the TV property, and they don’t seem to be interested in revisiting it at this point. Also, Joss said in his [reddit interview](http://www.whedonverse.net/news/online/joss-whedons-reddit-ask-me-anything/) that he doesn’t want to make Firefly Season 2 happen: > > I’m not sure if the latter would also apply to making a ‘Serenity 2’ movie. Not to highjack this thread, but: Thanks for linking to this, it was a great read. A few favorite quotes: > [@](#): > > It let me cast Mark Ruffalo, one of the best and sweetest actors I know, and, I think, THE definitive Bruce Banner. (Apologies to Mr. Bixby.) > [@](#): > > Robert and Neil are both even funnier off-screen than on. Funnier, in fact, than me. I hate Robert [Downey Jr.] and Neil [Patrick Harris]. > Yes, the original cast will be back for Dr H 2, but Penny will be… um… I don’t want to say “decomposing”… ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/43 "2012-05-06T15:19:19Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I would’ve thought Jon Favreau, by making **Iron Man** , would be in the firmament of Hollywood director gods. But then he made two disappointments back-to-back, and now he has two TV movies in development, a bit of a step down. It’s not hard to attribute a successful movie to something other than the director, or an unsuccessful movie to the director alone. And I can see Joss Whedon falling victim to this as well. Yes, after **Iron Man** I was willing to give Jon Favreau a lot of leeway - but even with that and even though I love Christmas movies and even with Reese Witherspoon, I had absolutely no desire to see \*Four Christmases \*(wait, did he direct that?) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/44 "2012-05-06T16:12:15Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > [Starship Titanic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Titanic) has, in fact, been done. Ha! But for everyone else, I’ll point out that, while this is a great game, the spaceship setting is really not that important, except for the final puzzle. The rest of it could have been any futuristic location. And it’s not as if the final puzzle was particularly good. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/45 "2012-05-06T16:58:17Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > …that Joss Whedon is going to be able to green light absolutely anything he wants to. I can’t wait to see what it is! I’ve been curious about something… Joss wrote two of the most insanely popular teen-to-college-age TV series of all time (note, however, that he only directed about 1/10 of the episodes). Anyway. He then, at the height of his TV writing career, went to the networks and said “Hey, I’ve got an idea for a new teen-college age TV series and I’m going to call it Firefly”, and they didn’t just start writing blank checks, and instead hamstrung him at every creative turn (they broadcast the pilot last? WTF with that?) and eventually cut him off at the knees mid-season. Why do we think that directing one (more) good movie is going to catapult him to mega-blockbuster success? ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/46 "2012-05-06T17:08:19Z")
Because this particular good movie is in fact a very, very good movie, and it looks like it will make $200 million dollars its opening weekend here in the US. Money talks, especially in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/47 "2012-05-06T17:10:01Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’ve been curious about something… Joss wrote two of the most insanely popular teen-to-college-age TV series of all time … I wouldn’t consider Buffy or Angel to be “insanely popular.” They were very successful basic cable TV shows, but they were still basic cable TV shows, and there were several other basic cable shows targeting the same demographic that were equally or more successful than Whedon’s shows. Probably more profitable, too, since stuff like _Dawson’s Creek_ doesn’t need a particularly huge fx or stunt budget. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/48 "2012-05-06T17:11:22Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’ve been curious about something… Joss wrote two of the most insanely popular teen-to-college-age TV series of all time (note, however, that he only directed about 1/10 of the episodes). Anyway. He then, at the height of his TV writing career, went to the networks and said “Hey, I’ve got an idea for a new teen-college age TV series and I’m going to call it Firefly”, and they didn’t just start writing blank checks, and instead hamstrung him at every creative turn (they broadcast the pilot last? WTF with that?) and eventually cut him off at the knees mid-season. Because instead of your made-up scenario, what he actually did is say “Hey, I’ve got an idea for a space western TV series and I’m going to call it Firefly.” And then the executives wrote him a big check for the pilot, which they didn’t like, and then continued to write him smaller and smaller checks until they told him he was cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/49 "2012-05-06T17:13:27Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’ve been curious about something… Joss wrote two of the most insanely popular teen-to-college-age TV series of all time (note, however, that he only directed about 1/10 of the episodes). Anyway. He then, at the height of his TV writing career, went to the networks and said “Hey, I’ve got an idea for a new teen-college age TV series and I’m going to call it Firefly”, and they didn’t just start writing blank checks, and instead hamstrung him at every creative turn (they broadcast the pilot last? WTF with that?) and eventually cut him off at the knees mid-season. > > Why do we think that directing one (more) good movie is going to catapult him to mega-blockbuster success? “Insanely popular”? BtVS and ATS may have been beloved by their fans and by plenty of critics, but not that many people actually watched them. How good do you think their ratings were? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/50 "2012-05-06T17:28:05Z")
Mmmkay, so my my own personal perception of the quality of Angel and Buffy seem to have biased my initial question, but the bottom line question still stands: He made two TV series that were popular in certain circles (but apparently not insanely so), another TV series that was popular enough that, even though it was cancelled, they ended up making a movie about it, and another TV series that went two seasons… in all cases, he’s primarily the WRITER, not the director: He directed 7 episodes of Angel. 22 episodes of Buffy. THREE episodes of Dollhouse. How do we get from that to “The best part of the fact that The Avengers is about to make a Gazillion dollars is that Joss Whedon is going to be able to green light absolutely anything he wants to”? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/51 "2012-05-06T17:37:26Z")
You know the Hollywood phrase, “You’re only as big as your last hit”? Well, Joss Whedon’s last hit just made $200 million in its opening weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/52 "2012-05-06T18:31:17Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > He made two TV series that were popular in certain circles (but apparently not insanely so), another TV series that was popular enough that, even though it was cancelled, they ended up making a movie about it, and another TV series that went two seasons… in all cases, he’s primarily the WRITER, not the director: He directed 7 episodes of Angel. 22 episodes of Buffy. THREE episodes of Dollhouse. > > How do we get from that to “The best part of the fact that The Avengers is about to make a Gazillion dollars is that Joss Whedon is going to be able to green light absolutely anything he wants to”? Some if it is where the heart of creative control resides. For movies, a lot of the creative control resides with the director. Sure, the writer creates the script, and the actors contribute to the characterizations, but the director shapes those elements to tell the story he wants to tell the way he wants to tell it. For an example, read the description about _Alien IV_ above. Look at what Lucas did with the Star Wars prequels - he has Natalie Portman getting criticised for being “wooden” and unconvincing - NATALIE PORTMAN! And Ewan McGregor. Also look at exposure. Blockbuster movies are on an entirely different level than TV shows running on secondhand networks. (Yeah, Fox is now on equal footing with “the big three”, but it wasn’t the case when Buffy came out.) Plus, it’s largely about the money in Hollywood. So Joss was Director on a blockbuster that is hugely successful, that translates into a lot of cred with the studios. That typically translates into the director getting to choose his next project and getting lots of leeway with it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/53 "2012-05-06T18:52:05Z")
Dude, _Firefly_ was on **FOX**. Whole different universe from Hollywood. Joss is going to have to show he’s got length, but _Cabin In the Woods_ and _Avengers_ in simultaneous release and good buzz/box office will cut him a lot of slack on his next project. If nothing else, he’ll get a shot at _Avengers 2_ and a few other Marvel projects. Then with more of a track record he can green-light anything he wants. Personally, I think he’ll concentrate on smaller, more character-driven stuff that he also writes in between the Marvel goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/54 "2012-05-06T18:59:23Z")
Heck, if he makes enough money, when a studio tells him no he’ll be able to start his own studio to say yes. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/55 "2012-05-06T22:08:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You know the Hollywood phrase, “You’re only as big as your last hit”? Well, Joss Whedon’s last hit just made $200 million in its opening weekend. The Avengers made $200 million. I have nothing against Joss Whedon, but let’s get real here. I would be surprised if 1/20 of the audience of this movie knows who directed or wrote it. Even fewer care that he wrote it even if they know it was him. That said, the movie was good. But I don’t think it was good in a way that many other recent action movies have been. Generally, Hollywood has been getting better at putting these franchises in capable hands. But just scanning rotten tomatoes, [Star Trek](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/), [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_part_2_2011/), [Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_ghost_protocol/), and the [Dark Knight](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/) had as good or better reviews, and also made a shit-ton of money. I don’t think that it’s really fair to give Whedon anymore credit than say, Alex Kurtzman, the writer of Star Trek. I doubt that guy can get anything he wants made. Also, consider that guys like George Lucas and Tyler Perry cannot greenlight a Hollywood pictures despite the fact that they have both made millions of dollars, and had tons of success. The only reason Perry can get stuff on air is because he can produce it himself. Keep in mind that Buffy, Whedon’s most popular show, was never ranked better than #120 of, at the time, 157 network shows in terms of [ratings](http://fbibler.chez.com/tvstats/recent_data/2000-01.html). It was behind well-regarded show we all remember so fondly like, The Geena Davis Show, The Michael Richards Show, and World’s Most Amazing Videos. That’s not to say they are better qualitatively, but when a guy’s “hits” are not particularly commercially successful, I wonder how you figure people should be tripping over themselves to give him money. [Lucas](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/george-lucas-hollywood-di_n_1197227.html) had trouble getting $58 million to get Redtails made. Even after you consider than many of Lucas’ recent movies have been critically panned, they almost always make a staggering amount of money. After Titanic, James Cameron still had studios hedging on the budget for Avatar. In fact, Cameron had to shell out millions of his own money upfront to work on some of the tech stuff that went into the movie. Paramount didn’t want to green light Anchorman 2 for Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Despite that their movies have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, that they have a TV show and a successful website, that the movie is a sequel with a built-in fan base, that the original grossed about $60 million more than it cost to produce, that it stars Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and a bunch of other successful stars, and that Judd Apatow is involved. Even now, the budget will “only” be $50 million. To quote McKay in this [interview](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/anchorman-sequel-adam-mckay-will-ferrell-310120?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter): > [@](#): > > I think it was $85 million domestic and maybe $5-10 million internationally or something like that. See, I keep trying to inflate the numbers a little bit. [laughs] Let’s just call it $200 million! So their numbers machine did not compute that. They kept saying, “We’ll give you $35 million.” And we’re like, “Wait a minute, if we do it for that, we’re literally not getting paid!” And they weren’t doing back end… I said, “Look, we want to do it, we don’t need to get rich off of it, but you’ve got to give us something!” This was three years or something. So, basically they came back with a low budget. Originally, I was saying, “Hey, $80 million budget ,because it’ll be the period, and you gotta pay the stars,” and they were like, “Are you crazy?” And then quickly I was like, “All right, fine, $60 million and we can make it work, we’ll all take pay cuts,” and they were still like, “Are you out of your mind?” And we were like, “Oh, wow.” And the whole time, to Goodman’s credit, he’s like, “I really want to get this done,” so he’s clearly pushing for it, and the numbers aren’t computing. And then we did Other Guys and we came back again and we were like, “Look, can we take another shot at this? We’re not asking for $80 million or $60 million. Let’s just do it so we can get some money, a little bit of back end, let’s just make it fair.” And they still said, “No, no, $35 million,” or whatever the number was, and crappy back end. Our reps wanted us to do it, and they’re like, “You can’t, this is such an awful deal.” Nowadays, it seems a good track record will get your foot in the door, but it doesn’t mean they will throw money at you for any idea that they don’t feel will make them money. The reality is that Whedon could parlay this into more jobs where there is a built-in fan base, but no studio is gonna green light is next wacky vampire werewolf western just because he didn’t steer the Avengers into a ditch. To some extent, that is the downside of doing a movie like this. You don’t get as much credit for coaching the winning team if you have the best players. But, if you lose, you are fucked. As much as I think TV is better when you have creative people Whedon given more leeway to be creative, I recognize that Whedon’s work, from a business point of view, is probably not gonna make you a lot of money unless you can hopefully sell a bunch of DVDs down the line. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/56 "2012-05-07T05:52:05Z")
Avengers [smashes](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/)opening weekend records and becomes the first film to take 200 million on its opening US weekend. It was always likely to get the record but 200 is still astonishing. Now we have to see how far it goes in the US all-time [record](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm). I think it will definitely beat Dark Knight Returns at 533. Avatar at 760 is probably too much. Titantic at 658 (padded by the recent re-release) is possible. And yeah I hope it gives Whedon more freedom to do interesting projects. I never got into Buffy but I really enjoyed Firefly and while it appears a return is not possible I would like to see Whedon do another TV show in space. Actually my dream project would be a Whedon show in the Star Wars universe about the early adventures of Han and Lando. A movie in the same setting would be great as well and would probably make a lot of money. After Avengers I don’t think any movie studio would hesitate to greenlight such a project; the only hurdle is George Lucas’s ego. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/57 "2012-05-07T06:30:39Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > The Avengers made $200 million. I have nothing against Joss Whedon, but let’s get real here. I would be surprised if 1/20 of the audience of this movie knows who directed or wrote it. Even fewer care that he wrote it even if they know it was him. That said, the movie was good. But I don’t think it was good in a way that many other recent action movies have been. Generally, Hollywood has been getting better at putting these franchises in capable hands. But just scanning rotten tomatoes, [Star Trek](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/), [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_part_2_2011/), [Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_ghost_protocol/), and the [Dark Knight](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/) had as good or better reviews, and also made a shit-ton of money. I don’t think that it’s really fair to give Whedon anymore credit than say, Alex Kurtzman, the writer of Star Trek. I doubt that guy can get anything he wants made. These are valid points. Clearly Whedon isn’t going to be able to make anything he wants. However he is going to have a lot more leeway in pitching projects and getting producers to listen. He proved that he can handle a mega-budget movie and make a gazillion dollars. He created one of the greatest action climaxes in movie history. Whedon has entered the league of major Hollywood directors for the first time. Since you mentioned Star Trek, we might compare Whedon to JJ Abrams who also started off by creating TV shows. Abrams directed two franchise films: MI3 and Star Trek and then got to make a more personal film: Super 8. I don’t know whether the success of Star Trek contributed directly to Super 8 getting the go-ahead but it surely didn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/58 "2012-05-07T14:20:30Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > These are valid points. Clearly Whedon isn’t going to be able to make anything he wants. However he is going to have a lot more leeway in pitching projects and getting producers to listen. I would imagine he already had people who will _listen_ to his ideas. He was not an unknown, so it’s not as if a anyone in power would get a script and not know who he is. But TPTB, especially in network TV, want shows that theoretically appeal to a broad audience. Whedon’s stuff generally doesn’t. Unless he is willing to change that, I don’t any studio exec is just gonna throw money at him because people like what he did with The Avengers. > [@Lantern](#): > > He proved that he can handle a mega-budget movie and make a gazillion dollars. He did. But again, was there any chance this movie wouldn’t make a bunch of money? I think his stewardship, and fan loyalty probably added a few million, but it wasn’t the difference between bombing and success. > [@Lantern](#): > > He created one of the greatest action climaxes in movie history. Huh? Maybe we watched different movies. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good movie, but I can think of at least a few recent “action” movies that were better overall, or had more impressive action sequences. I mentioned a few that were collectively rated better by both critics and fans, all released with the last few years. I think maybe you are a bit biased. > [@Lantern](#): > > Whedon has entered the league of major Hollywood directors for the first time. Is David Yates, director of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, a major Hollywood director? Maybe, but I don’t think you get credit for doing a good job with an established brand. That’s why Tim Cook will likely never be as revered as Steve Jobs was. It Whedon’s next unique project is a big commercial success, then you might be right. > [@Lantern](#): > > Since you mentioned Star Trek, we might compare Whedon to JJ Abrams who also started off by creating TV shows. Abrams directed two franchise films: MI3 and Star Trek and then got to make a more personal film: Super 8. I don’t know whether the success of Star Trek contributed directly to Super 8 getting the go-ahead but it surely didn’t hurt. JJ Abrams made SUCCESSFUL TV shows. Furthermore, Super 8 relied on a far more reliable premise than many Whedon projects. The best I can think that Whedon could hope for is a situation like Tarantino seems to have where his movies are usually backed by the same studio (Miramax/Weinstein), who seem to have great confidence in his overall ability. While I don’t think Tarantino will ever get huge budgets, I think he gets a lot of creative control to make his types of movies. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/59 "2012-05-07T15:00:58Z")
Again I go back to the Inception: Dark Knight analogy. I am reasonably sure Whedon’s agent’s phone has been ringing off the hook for the last 48 hours. He’s going to be offered a blank slate, you’ll see. To go back to another example someone mentioned: Favreau got the same chance and he used it on Cowboys and Aliens which unfortunately tanked (I liked it). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869/60 "2012-05-07T15:38:36Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > He did. But again, was there any chance this movie wouldn’t make a bunch of money? Oh, HELL yes! Points to “John Carter of Mars.” I’ll grant you the Wheedonistas have a ton of bias, but if you don’t think the mega-success of the Avengers will give Wheedon huge amounts of cred with the studios, I would say you are wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-part-of-the-fact-that-the-avengers-is-about-to-make-a-gazillion-dollars-is/620869.md?page=4)