'Avengers' Director Joss Whedon Calls for Indie Film Boycott (VIDEO)

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a serious problem facing the movie business today. Tiny, independent films produced on a low budget and released in only dozens of theaters across the country are threatening the livelihood of movies like "The Avengers," which has earned $1.4 billion worldwide.

That's the argument that "Avengers" director Joss Whedon puts forth in this little video to his fans. It's all dripping with sarcasm, of course, and it's really an endorsement of fellow filmmaker Mike Birbiglia.

Birbiglia, a comedian and storyteller, made a movie called "Sleepwalk with Me" about his real-life problems with sleepwalking. The movie started with a very limited release (only 30 theaters) but will be expanding soon, as it has received positive reviews and good word of mouth. We featured it ourselves in our Five Potentially Awesome Summer Movies list.

Whedon, despite his big-budget status after successfully helming "The Avengers," is no stranger to the indie scene: when the writer's strike happened a few years back, Whedon made "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" and put it up on the Internet (it will now air on The CW this fall). More recently, Whedon did an adaptation of "Much Ado About Nothing," shot on his own budget in one location over one weekend.

So naturally, Whedon would want to encourage his legion of fans to go see Mike Birbiglia's movie. Only it's Joss Whedon, so he has to present it as sarcastically telling his fans to boycott Mike Birbiglia's movie. Hey, he's Joss Whedon. He can do whatever he wants. He made "The Avengers."