It looks like the Avengers are assembling a few days early to celebrate the 11th annual Tribeca Film Festival. Organizers announced on Wednesday that Marvel's "The Avengers" will close out the New York-set film fest on April 28, six days before the film's release on May 4.
The Saturday night screening will welcome various "local heroes" from New York City, ranging from first responders to police and fire officials to members of the U.S. military.
"We are proud that Marvel's 'The Avengers' is the closing film of this year's Tribeca Film Festival and we are excited to welcome local heroes to the screening as special guests," Marvel's Kevin Feige said in a statement. "We all know and love our iconic Super Heroes, but when it really counts, it's our real-life heroes who save the world every day by making it a better place for all of us."
This is the second high profile film set for the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival; "The Five-Year Engagement," with Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, will open the festivities on April 18. Last year, the Tribeca Film Festival opened with the Cameron Crowe documentary, "The Union," and closed with Edward Burns' charming indie "Newlyweds."
Not everyone is a fan of Tribeca's turn to big studio films. A number of sarcastic tweets mocked the festival for screening blockbuster movies at the independent film festival:
The Tribeca Film Fest will close with a classic Indie Film 'The Avengers' - a small art-house film about men in tights.@TribecaFilmFest
— Evan Shapiro (@eshap) March 28, 2012
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson, "The Avengers" arrives in theaters on May 4.
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