10 Movies Only Directed As Experiments

4. A No-Budget Shakespeare Adaptation Filmed In Joss Whedon's House - Much Ado About Nothing

The Experiment

After wrapping principal photography on The Avengers in September 2011, Joss Whedon used his holiday before post-production began to shoot a no-budget adaptation of Shakespeare's legendary play Much Ado About Nothing...in his own house, no less.

Roping in many of his regular collaborators such as Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof and Clark Gregg, the film was shot in just 12 days using mostly natural light, handheld-style, for that extra kitchen sink feel.

Given that he'd spent much of the preceding two years working on what was one of the biggest movies of all time up to that point, swinging in totally the other direction for this project must've been a welcome change of pace, no matter what became of it.

How Did It Turn Out?

Whedon's film ended up premiering to strong reviews at TIFF 2012, and was quickly picked up for distribution by Lionsgate.

While hardly a truly memorable adaptation of The Bard's work, there's a charming simplicity to Whedon's stripped-down approach, and Denisof and Acker are great in it.

This is clearly a movie Whedon made for himself rather than anyone else, and in that sense it's easily his most personal work to date.