This will probably shock you to learn that Avengers: Age of Ultron scored a much higher opening night box office than Far from the Madding Crowd. The Marvel sequel opened last night with a mighty $27.6M, topping the $18M opening night of The Avengers. Early tracking has the film scoring the highest-grossing debut weekend in history, besting its predecessor's $207M. The question isn't whether it will get off to blockbuster start, it's whether or not the lukewarm reviews will hurt the longevity.
Meanwhile, those who have already seen the film may be wondering where their favorite trickster god is. Didn't Idris Elba say both Heimdall and Tom Hiddleston's Loki had a scene? Well, yeah, they did, but it didn't make the cut according to Joss Whedon who tells MTV...
“We did shoot something and it didn’t play. The movie has so much, is so filled and we didn’t want it to feel overstuffed. I really wanted to have Loki in it but I understood the decision, ‘Now there are too many voices in the chorus.’ At some point the embarrassment of riches is actually embarrassing.”
Heimdall actually does show up for a little bit, but hopefully this excluded scene will be included on the Avengers: Age of Ultron Blu-Ray. Or maybe not. A few days ago Amazon's UK site reported the home release would have an alternate ending and an extended version. But that may not be the case because Amazon has fired off an email response stating features “may not be correct [as] the studio hasn’t yet confirmed which special features will be included.”
Hmmm...we'll see, but I'd bet Marvel plans a dual release strategy when all is said and done. An early barebones release with a limited amount of content, followed by an expanded package loaded up with extras.
