With the unbelievable success of "The Avengers," Joss Whedon is the new king of summer. Want proof? His arty, I-made-it-in-my-backyard-for-real Shakespeare adaptation is going to go in the deep end with the blockbusters in 2013.
Lionsgate will drop Whedon's "Much Ado About Nothing" in theaters on June 7, 2013, the same weekend as M. Night Shyamalan's "After Earth," Louis Leterrier's "Now You See Me" and the Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughn team up "The Internship." So…good luck? Shot in less than two weeks, the black-and-white picture stars Whedon pals Nathan Fillion, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese, Sean Maher, Clark Gregg, and Reed Diamond, it's a contemporary spin on the story of sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick that offers a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love. While we still don't get the summer date, the movie itself is a hoot, and after seeing it at TIFF we called it an "unexpected treat." Sleeper hit potential?
Meanwhile, Universal is dropping the Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey starring "Purge" formerly known as "Vigilandia" on May 31, 2013. The film is set in a crime-ridden American when, on a day where "anything goes," Hawke's house gets broken into, setting off a chain of events that plunges him and his family into an "urban nightmare." Michael Bay produced this so, you know. [Deadline]