Quick Takes: ‘Avengers’ leader returns

Joss Whedon will return to write and direct a sequel to “The Avengers.”

The announcement was made Tuesday by Bob Iger, the chief executive of theWalt Disney Co., who told analysts in a conference call that the media company’s third-quarter earnings were up 24%, thanks in part to “Avengers” income.

The superhero movie, made by Disney’s Marvel Entertainment subsidiary, is one of the biggest hits in modern Hollywood history, with global ticket sales in excess of $1.46 billion. Its domestic ticket sales of $616.8 million makes it the third-highest-grossing film ever, trailing only”Avatar” and”Titanic” in non-inflation-adjusted dollars.

Whedon, 48, has signed a three-year exclusive contract with Marvel, and as part of it is developing a TV series for ABC.

—John Horn

Man arrested at ‘Knight’ showing

A man brought a gun, ammunition and several knives to a showing of the latest Batman movie in Ohio because he wanted to protect himself in case someone tried to replicate last month’s deadly Colorado theater shooting, his attorney said Tuesday.

Scott A. Smith, 37, had no intention of causing harm or inducing panic when he brought the weapons to a Saturday showing of”The Dark Knight Rises”in Westlake, just outside Cleveland, said his attorney, Matthew Bruce.

“With the recent shooting in Colorado, and the other incidents around the country in regards to threats, he felt that he needed protection,” Bruce said.

A theater manager and an off-duty police officer working security stopped Smith after they became suspicious of a bag he was carrying, said Westlake Police Lt. Ray Arcuri.

Smith was arrested without incident and is currently jailed.

—Associated Press

‘Fifty Shades’ of classical music

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” the uber-bestselling series of steamy erotica, is getting a soundtrack.

EMI Classics said Tuesday that it will release “Fifty Shades of Grey — The Classical Album,” a 15-track album featuring classical music curated by the series’ author, E.L. James.

The album will hit U.S. digital retailers Aug. 21, with a physical disc being released Sept. 18.

The soundtrack includes the Tallis Scholars’ version of “Spem in Alium” featured in the first book, along with 14 other classics namedropped in the series, including the “Flower Duet” from Lakmé, Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” and the aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

“I am thrilled that the classical pieces that inspired me while I wrote the Fifty Shades Trilogy are being brought together in one collection for all lovers of the books to enjoy,” James said in a statement.

—Gerrick D. Kennedy

‘Master’ vies for Venice film prize

The movie that the Venice Film Festival had been keeping under wraps as the last of the 18 competitors for its coveted Golden Lion award is Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams. It will premiere Sept. 1.

Anderson, the director of “Magnolia”and “There Will Be Blood,” is the 12th director in competition screening a film for the first time in Venice.

The festival announced the remaining 17 competing films last month, including another four by American directors.

The 69th Biennale opens Aug. 29 with Mira Nair’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” which shows out of competition.

—Associated Press

Cinematheque to honor Stiller

Comic actor Ben Stiller will receive the American Cinematheque award at the organization’s annual benefit gala on Nov. 15 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Stiller follows past winners such as Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and George Clooney, continuing the Cinematheque’s desire to honor A-listers still vital in filmmaking.

Stiller, 46, has the alien-invasion comedy”The Watch”currently in theaters, and he’s busy directing and starring in the comedy-adventure “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” an adaptation of a James Thurber story set for release next year.

—Glenn Whipp

New adventure for Marlowe

Philip Marlowe will soon be back on the case.

The sleuth of such classic Raymond Chandler novels as”The Big Sleep”and “The Long Goodbye” will return

in a new novel by John Banville.

Henry Holt and Co. announced Tuesday that the book, currently untitled, is scheduled for next year. It has been authorized by the estate of Chandler, who died in 1959.

—Associated Press