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 At a lavish premiere in Los Angeles, hundreds of industry VIPs,
cast members, fans and media watched the first showing of
"Avengers: Endgame," the three-hour action spectacle that has
been held tightly under wraps [L1N2201TH].
The movie begins rolling out in theaters around the world on
Wednesday.
Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson
(Black Widow), Chris Evans (Captain America) and others walked a
purple carpet underneath a giant, spinning Avengers logo set up
inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. A cavernous exhibit
hall was turned into a movie theater with a large screen and
stadium-style seating.
"I'm excited that I'm finally going to get to see the movie,"
said Paul Rudd, who plays Ant-Man and, like other cast members,
had not seen the finished film due to Marvel's secrecy around
the project.
Rudd said he had been traveling the world to promote the movie
and "trying to talk about it the best we can, and to do all of
that without having seen the film is a strange experience. So
now, to finally see the movie is great."
Other A-list stars packed the premiere, including Chris
Hemsworth's brother Liam and his wife Miley Cyrus, and Matt
Damon, who had a cameo in 2017 film "Thor: Ragnarok."
"Endgame" concludes the story of the six original Avengers in
Marvel's cinematic universe - Iron Man, Captain America, Black
Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk and Thor.
It picks up after last year's "Avengers: Infinity War" left fans
hanging when many of the Marvel heroes seemed to turn to dust at
the hand of the villain Thanos, played by Josh Brolin.In
"Endgame," the surviving superheroes plot to kill Thanos and try
to undo his damage.
After the screening, the stars gathered on stage and hugged.
Evans told the crowd that he "cried like six times" while
watching the film. "I cried more than six times, Chris,"
Hemsworth said.
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Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk, said working on the films had been
"the trip of a lifetime".
The 21 previous movies from the Walt Disney Co-owned Marvel studio
are the highest-grossing franchise in film history, generating more
than $18.6 billion at global box offices since 2007.
"Endgame" may set an opening weekend record in the domestic market,
according to box office analysts. "Infinity War" holds the current
record of $257.7 million over its first three days in the United
States and Canada.
Initial reactions to "Endgame" were positive.
Erik Davis, managing editor at Fandango, called the movie a
"masterful epic." "If Infinity War is the brawn, Endgame is the
brains. And wow, what an ending!" Davis wrote on Twitter.
While "Endgame" wraps up the "Avengers" story, many Marvel
characters will live on in future movies. Spider-Man, for example,
returns to the big screen in July in "Spider-Man: Far from Home."
A "Black Panther" sequel is also in the works.
"There will be new beginnings," said Marvel Studios President Kevin
Feige. "There will be new stories. There will be new ways of doing
it, but for now the focus is on the endgame."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Rollo Ross; Editing by Paul Tait and
Alexandra Hudson)
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