‘How I Met Your Mother’ Star Cobie Smulders Slated For ‘The Avengers’

Marvel Studios has recruited Cobie Smulders, from the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, for the highly anticipated comic book movie The Avengers.

Smulders is slated to play S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Maria Hill, the second-in-command to Agent Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson). If all goes as planned, the actress will be integrated into all future Avenger projects.

Smulders will be joining an all-star cast for the film, which includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson.

The Avengers marks Cobie Smulders big screen debut. The sitcom actress reportedly beat out five other actresses for the role, including Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. At one point, she was also considered for the title role in a Wonder Woman film for Warner Bros.

The Avengers is set to be released May 4, 2012. Production is set to begin in April.

Scarlett Johansson on her Broadway debut, playing a teenager and Iron Man 2

From wsj.com:

The Wall Street Journal: Normally you play characters who are older than you. Is it a challenge to play a teenager on stage?

Ms. Johansson: It’s really kind of agonizing in some ways to be 17, and I didn’t know if I wanted to go back there. I’m very wary of actors that are in their 20s that are playing teenagers, that play it with this really sort of false adolescence. It’s like a pet peeve of mine. I thought it was going to be an uncomfortable challenge—a challenge, but not a good kind of a challenge—and it turned out that I never thought about it again.

Did you work with a dialect coach?

We did have a dialect coach we’ve been working with. I’m from Manhattan and so it’s not an unfamiliar dialect for me. My mom’s side of the family’s all from New York, and of course they’re Jewish and from different boroughs, so it’s not exactly the same. The Italian Brooklyn accent is sort of particular to the Italians, but it’s similar.

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Studios that feel the economic squeeze are making actors pay for it

Variety has a great article on the state of the film industry. They are reporting that even though studios had another banner year in 2008, they are all saying that they need to reign in their budgets. And who is this affecting most?

Actors.

Is this because of the economy? Movies are still pulling in tons of money every weekend… so most likely not. Is it because they want to stop giving stars tons of money and are blaming it on the economy? Probably yes.

Unless you’re Will Smith, Johnny Depp or a handful of others, nobody is earning their quote right now, said dealmakers. Stories of tough negotiations are widespread: Disney asked Nicolas Cage to cut his price on the next “National Treasure” sequel, and that same studio cut loose a third “Chronicles of Narnia” film.

Then there is comeback kid Mickey Rourke, who is poised to follow his Golden Globe-winning performance in “The Wrestler” with an offer to play the main villain in “Iron Man 2” — but at a lowball opening offer of $250,000 from Marvel; Marvel’s tactics have already prompted Samuel L. Jackson to swear off playing Nick Fury because of a similarly low offer.

And the stars of “Twilight,” Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who are still in talks, will likely cash low-seven-figure upfront paychecks for sequel “New Moon.” They likely won’t, however, be allowed to sink their fangs into first-dollar gross as they hoped. That film’s financier, Summit, hasn’t yet paid first-dollar gross and sells off its foreign territories. One possible compromise is bonuses pegged to box office performance.

Dealmakers said studios that once bought projects that could be bait for movie stars now prefer high concepts that don’t require big stars and directors with their big paychecks. The perfect example is “Twilight,” which became a big hit despite the lack of bankable stars.

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Terrence Howard in shock over Iron Man 2

“It was the surprise of a lifetime,” he said. “There was no explanation. [The contract] just…up and vanished.”

Punchline to Mastermind: Robert Downey Jr.

Going into Iron Man 2, Downey is playing the humble card. “I also have to let go, because there’s an aspect, particularly after the success of things, I noticed my narcissism got dialed up,” said Downey while promoting his latest film, Tropic Thunder.