Look what happens when you’re handed a monster franchise like “The Avengers” – even your mustiest film projects get a second lease on life.

Director Joss Whedon, the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator chosen to helm the upcoming superheroes flick, will finally get to see his 2009 horror film “The Cabin in the Woods” in theaters.

He’ll just have to wait a few more months for the privilege.

“The Cabin in the Woods” stars a pre-”Thor” Chris Hemsworth in an ensemble shocker about a group of pretty young folk who get more than they bargained for while traipsing through the forest.

The trailer looks like a Cuisinart pastiche of horror staples with a few puckish moments to remind us Whedon is behind the camera. “Cabin” got caught up in the MGM bankruptcy mess, but clearly Hollywood wasn’t itching to get it in front of the masses.

Read into that what you will.

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After I posted my original Early Estimates column on Big Hollywood last night, I received a Facebook message from Platinum Dunes partner and Friday the Thirteenth producer Rob Fuller saying “I hope you’re right.” My Friday estimate last night was for a robust $20M, and Variety is reporting $19.3M this morning. “We were hoping to do $10M-$11M yesterday,” he told me this morning.  “In our wildest dreams we couldn’t have imagined that.”

I originally projected $51.25M for the 4-day weekend on Friday night, amd some analysts have the new Jason Voorhies saga sailing higher basec on early rerturns (I am now projecting $47M for 4 days). The combination of Valentine’s Day and a school holiday Monday for President’s Day make predicting the movie’s long weekend haul a tricky call, but regardless, this is great news for Warner Bros, which has the domestic distribution rights, Paramount, handling international distribution, and Platinum Dunes.

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