<em>Avengers</em> to Close Tribeca Film Festival

Marvel’s The Avengers will close the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival next month. According to a report by Daily Variety [1], it’s an attention-grabbing choice for the festival, which has always aimed to include programming for New York’s general moviegoing public as well as the more insular film community.

For anyone not paying attention, the Joss Whedon-directed film features the iconic characters of Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), as well as turns from Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgard, Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg. The world premiere of the film is in Hollywood on April 11, and will hit theaters on May 4.

This year's festival, which will open with the Judd Apatow-produced comedy Five Year Engagement, which stars Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, runs from April 18-28.