The Avengers Coming to Theaters Soon: What Clevelanders Have to Say

In August of 2011, production for The Avengers arrived in Cleveland to film for four weeks. Cleveland’s East 9th was chosen for a double of New York’s 42nd street, and scenes were also filmed on Public Square and the Detroit–Superior Bridge. The southwest quadrant of Public Square was turned into Stuttgart, Germany, for the film. Even the Chevrolet powertrain plant in Parma, Ohio and the NASA Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio were used as filming locations. And if your love affair with film is higher than most, then perhaps you even went scouting at some of the locations to either, grab some pictures of the set, or try and catch a glimpse at some notable stars that were scheduled to film in Cleveland.

Over the winter we got a taste of the movie when the official Avengers trailer was released. Now with the movies premier in just 3 weeks, Clevelanders are waiting with anticipation to see a portion of their city up on the big screen. There was some editing of Cleveland to make it look more like New York mind you. However, some citizens around Cleveland were saying that they can tell what scenes were filmed on East 9th and Public Square because they know their city all that well.

“When the trailer came out, I was able to tell East 9th right away because of the construction material on the sidewalk” says Jake of Cleveland. “I walk down this street everyday so perhaps I was just more perceptive of seeing Cleveland.”

“I’m excited to see it, it should be an interesting film,” says Kay of Cleveland.

The Avengers is already being the talk of the internet and entertainment writers. The Hollywood Reporter is tracking Joss Whedon’s prerelease of movies, and they are estimating that The Avengers could score one of the biggest domestic openings of all time for a superhero pic, if not one of the biggest period. The first set of prerelease tracking for the film shows the ensemble extravaganza, which opens May 4 in North America, pacing ahead of Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight in most key categories.

The Dark Knight brought in $158.4 million to become the top opener of all time at the box office (it had the advantage of opening in the heart of summer). The flick held the record for two years until fellow Warner Bros. title Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 debuted to nearly $170 million in July 2011. The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting that The Avengers prerelease is also tracking better than Lionsgate's blockbuster The Hunger Games, which posted a record if March of $152.5 million to score the third-best opening of all time behind Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Dark Knight, respectively.

Also among the movies exclusively produced by Marvel Studios, Iron Man 2 which claims the biggest domestic opening ever at $128.1 million. The Avengers based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of that same name. The Avengers is the 6th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After successes of Iron Man, development for The Avengers began when Marvel Studios received a grant from Merill Lynch. The Avengers premiered on April 11, 2012 and is scheduled for release on May 4, 2012 in the United States in 2D and 3D.

“I’m just excited to see it,” says Rachael of Cleveland. “I came down here while they were shooting on East 9th and it was just an incredible thing to see.”

“I am a fan of all the Marvel Comics,” says Mike of Cleveland. “So far they have not been disappointing and I am sure this one won’t be either.”

I myself am excited along with these local movie goers, I to had even went downtown to see if I can catch some of filming and perhaps do a little star gazing. However, I was lucky enough to catch a private screening of this film so check back here in a few days for my review…needless to say you won’t be disappointed.