Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s The Cabin In the Woods has a release date.

Yes, yes, we know the cleverly plotted horror picture has been on genre fans’ radars since 2005. Our own Josh Tyler reviewed the script nearly two years ago, and called it “a smart, tight little script” that “has the potential to be something special.” But circumstances conspired to keep Goddard’s directorial effort in developmental hell for years until Lionsgate lifted the completely finished thriller from the shelf, dusted it off, and set it up for a Friday, April 13, 2012 release date.

The project, coincidentally, “reunites” Whedon with Chris Hemsworth, who he currently is directing in The Avengers. The hunky blonde actor plays Curt Vaughan, the stereotypical horror movie jock who leads a troupe of similar genre caricatures to a cabin in the woods (duh) where they discover that things aren’t exactly as they seem. Whedon’s screenplay reportedly hinges on one major twist near the picture’s end that, Tyler says, could divide audiences into “love it” and “hate it” camps. At least we’ll finally be able to decide for ourselves whether Whedon’s script and Goddard’s direction actually works.

Aside from Hemsworth, who is blowing up thanks to Thor and his planned involvement in Snow White and the Huntsman, Cabin also stars Anna Hutchinson, Amy Acker, Jesse Williams, Bradley Whitford, and the dependable Richard Jenkins. Whedon, of course, created such beloved television classics as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse. Goddard, meanwhile, is best known for writing episoides of Lost, Alias, Buffy and Angel, as well as Cloverfield for director Matt Reeves.