Confirmed: Joss Whedon Secretly Filmed ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ During ‘Avengers’ Work.

It’s been confirmed. Joss Whedon pulled off filming an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing while working on Avengers. This is dope.

Slashfilm:

Until last night, not even the legions of hardcore Whedon fans were aware of the project, which TheWrap has confirmed with “people close to the project” is an independent film adaptation of the classic William Shakespeare comedy. News of the mystery movie hit when Maher, Fillion, and costume designer Shawna Trpcic tweeted a link to the website, MuchAdoTheMovie.com. They were quick to assure their followers that the site was not a joke. “Oh, it’s real. Very. Very. Real.” tweeted Fillion. “I promise you it’s the real deal and we’re VERY excited about it!” Maher chimed in. “We just wrapped today…” As to the question of how the cast and crew had kept the project a secret for so long, Maher only responded “It wasn’t easy :).”

At present, the site simply reads “Bellwether Pictures is proud to announce the completion of principal photography” and describes the project as “a film by Joss Whedon based on a play.” A list of actors’ names appear, along with an odd photo of a man in a lake, wearing snorkeling gear and holding a martini glass. Trpcic has also stated that the movie would not include “tights and huge Elizabethean collars” (as suggested by one Twitter user), so we’re assuming it’ll be a contemporary update on Shakespeare’s beloved play. In addition to Maher and Fillion (who plays a character named Dogberry), the movie also features previous Whedon collaborators Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz, Amy Acker, Riki Lindhome, and Clark Gregg, plus Whedon newbies Spencer Treat Clark, Jillian Morgese, and more.

Pretty awesome. Even more dope that they pulled it off under the radar.