When does a new Joss Whedon movie, TV show, web series, appearance, blog post, sneeze or sniffle ever amount to Nothing?
Only when the word is in the title!
The Buffy and Firefly mastermind revealed today that, in addition to directing the highly anticipated Avengers movie, he recently completed principal photography on a modern-day take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
And you may find that a few of the actors he cast sound familiar...
None other than Whedon faves Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz and Sean Maher (who last month revealed he is gay) star in the indie romantic comedy, which was shot—in black and white!—over the course of 12 days in "exotic Santa Monica," the director announced Monday.
"The film features a stellar cast of beloved (or soon to be beloved) actors—some of them veterans of Shakespearean theater, some completely new to the form," read a statement from Bellwether Pictures, a "microstudio" started by Whedon and spouse Kai Cole. "But all dedicated to the idea that this story bears retelling, that this dialogue is as fresh and intoxicating as any being written, and that the joy of working on a passion project surrounded by dear friends, admired colleagues and an atmosphere of unabashed rapture far outweighs their hilariously miniature paychecks."
Much Ado About Nothing is Bellwether Pictures' first film.
Fillion kinda-sorta confirmed the rumors about Whedon's writing-directing-producing triple threat last night, cryptically tweeting, "muchadothemovie.com," followed by, "Oh, it's real. Very. Very. Real. muchadothemovie.com."
This morning he added, "Alright, here's everything I know about muchadothemovie.com—Server error."
"The text is to me a deconstruction of the idea of love, which is ironic, since the entire production is a love letter—to the text, to the cast, even to the house it's shot in," Whedon says.
He plans to have the finished product ready for the festival circuit by this spring. The other little flick he's working on, The Avengers (also based on a classic tome from another century), is due in theaters May 4.
