Guardians of the Galaxy (film)

Guardians of the Galaxy is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the tenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is written and directed by James Gunn, with a story by Gunn and Nicole Perlman, and features an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill forms an uneasy alliance with a group of misfits who are on the run after stealing a coveted orb.

Producer Kevin Feige first publicly mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as a potential film in 2010, and Marvel Studios announced that the film was in active development at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2012. Gunn entered negotiations to write and direct the film that August. In February 2013, Pratt was hired to play Peter Quill / Star-Lord, and the supporting cast was filled out over the next several months. Filming began in July 2013 at Shepperton Studios, England with filming continuing in London before wrapping up in October 2013. The film is scheduled to be released on August 1, 2014, and will be released in 3D and IMAX 3D.

Premise
In the far reaches of space, an American pilot named Peter Quill finds himself the object of a manhunt after stealing an orb coveted by the villainous Ronan. In order to evade Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a group of misfits including Gamora, Rocket, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand – with the galaxy's fate in the balance.

Cast

 * Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord:
 * The leader of the Guardians who was taken from Missouri as a child in the mid-1980s and raised by a group of thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers. Pratt signed a multi-film contract with Marvel. About the character, Pratt said, "He had a hard time as a kid, and now he goes around space, making out with hot alien girls and just being a rogue and a bit of a jerk, and through teaming up with these guys, finds a higher purpose for himself."


 * Zoe Saldana as Gamora:
 * The adopted daughter of Thanos and an associate of Ronan, Nebula, and Korath who tries to find a new path for herself. Saldana said that she would become Gamora through make-up rather than CGI or performance capture. On taking the role, Saldana said, "I was just excited to be asked to join by James Gunn and to also play someone green. I've been blue before [in Avatar]."


 * Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer:
 * A warrior in search of vengeance against Ronan after his family is killed.


 * Vin Diesel as Groot:
 * A tree-like humanoid who is Rocket's accomplice. Diesel stated that he provided the voice and motion capture for Groot, after originally being in talks to star in a new Phase Three Marvel film.  On the character, Gunn said, "All the Guardians start out the movie as bastards – except Groot. He's an innocent. He's a hundred percent deadly and a hundred percent sweet. He's caught up in Rocket's life, really." Gunn added that the design and movement of Groot took "the better part of a year" to create. Gunn added, that "The ways in which Vin Diesel says 'I am Groot,' I am astounded. All of the 'I am Groots' that were earlier voices didn't sound very good at all... Vin came in and in one day, laid down all these 'I am Groot' tracks, and he's a perfectionist. He made me explain to him with ever [sic] 'I am Groot,' exactly what he was saying... It was amazing when we first put that voice in there how much the character changed and how much he influenced the character."


 * Bradley Cooper as Rocket:
 * A genetically engineered raccoon who is an expert marksman.  Gunn worked with live raccoons to get the correct feel for the character, and to make sure it was "not a cartoon character," saying "it's not Bugs Bunny in the middle of The Avengers, it's a real, little, somewhat mangled beast that's alone. There's no one else in the universe quite like him, he's been created by these guys to be a mean-ass fighting machine." Describing Rocket in relation to the rest of the Guardians, Cooper said, "I think Rocket is dynamic. He's the sort of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas guy." Cooper voiced Rocket, while Sean Gunn stood-in for the character during filming. Gunn said that for the role of Rocket, some physical movement from Cooper, including facial expressions and hand movements, was recorded as potential reference for the animators.


 * Lee Pace as Ronan:
 * Thanos's admiral who hunts down the Guardians. Pace, who originally auditioned for Peter Quill, described Ronan as a "psycho" and a "monster".


 * Michael Rooker as Yondu:
 * A blue-skinned hunter and tracker with an intuitive "sixth sense" perception and an associate of Quill's.


 * Karen Gillan as Nebula:
 * An adopted daughter of Thanos, who was raised together with Gamora as siblings. About the character, Gillan said, "She is the female villain of the film. She teams up with Lee Pace who is the male villain. She is very sadistic and evil, but I like to think for a very valid reason." Gillan shaved off her hair for the role.


 * Djimon Hounsou as Korath:
 * An ally to Ronan and Thanos. As to why he took the role Honsou said, "I have a four-year old son who loves superheroes from Spider-Man to Iron Man to Batman. He's got all the costumes. One day he looks at me and says 'Dad, I want to be light-skinned so I could be Spider-Man. Spider-Man has light skin.' That was sort of a shock. This is why I am excited to be a part of the Marvel Universe, so I could be hopefully provide [sic] that diversity in the role of the superhero."


 * John C. Reilly as Rhomann Dey:
 * A high ranking officer of the Nova Corps.


 * Glenn Close as Nova Prime Rael:
 * The leader of the Nova Corps.


 * Benicio del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector:
 * A powerful member of the Elders of the Universe. Describing del Toro's performance, Gunn said, "He's like an outer-space Liberace. That's what it says in the script, which he's kind of doing."

Additionally, an unrevealed actor has been cast as Thanos. Ophelia Lovibond was cast as Carina, the Collector's aide,  while Peter Serafinowicz plays a Nova Corps officer. Laura Haddock, Gregg Henry, Stephen Blackehart, Emmett J. Scanlan, Sean Gunn, Marama Corlett, Alexis Rodney, Melia Kreiling, and Spencer Wilding have been cast in unspecified supporting roles. Director James Gunn stated that Sean Gunn's role will be an "integral" part of the film. Stan Lee and Lloyd Kaufman will have cameos in the film.

Development
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige first mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as a potential film during an interview at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, stating, "There are some obscure titles, too, like 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' I think they've been revamped recently in a fun way in the book." Feige reiterated that sentiment in a September 2011 issue of Entertainment Weekly, saying, "There's an opportunity to do a big space epic, which Thor sort of hints at, in the cosmic side of the [Marvel Cinematic U]niverse." By June 2012, rumors circulated that the film had been greenlit, and would involve the supervillain Thanos as a potential lead-in to an Avengers sequel. Variety added to the rumors by stating that a script for the film, which the studio was prioritizing, had been written by Nicole Perlman.

Feige announced that the film was in active development at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International during the Marvel Studios panel, with an intended release date of August 1, 2014. He stated that the film's titular team would consist of the characters Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon. Two pieces of concept art were also displayed, one of Rocket Raccoon, and one featuring the full team. In August 2012, Marvel Studios hired writer Chris McCoy to rewrite Perlman's script. However, he did not receive production credit. Later that month James Gunn entered talks to direct the film, beating out other contenders, including Peyton Reed and the duo Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. The Avengers director Joss Whedon, who signed a deal to creatively consult on all of the films leading up to The Avengers sequel, was enthusiastic about the selection of Gunn to direct, saying "James [Gunn] is what makes me think it will work... He is so off the wall, and so crazy, but so smart, such a craftsman and he builds from his heart. He loves the raccoon. Needs the raccoon... He has a very twisted take on it, but it all comes from a real love for the material. It's going to be hard for [the human characters] to keep up."

Pre-production
In September 2012, Gunn confirmed in a post on his Facebook page that he had signed on to direct the film and rewrite the script. By November, Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Jim Sturgess, Lee Pace and Eddie Redmayne signed deals to test for the role of Peter Quill. A week later, Pace confirmed that he was auditioning for the role. Other actors who were considered for the role included Thor: The Dark World's Zachary Levi, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Michael Rosenbaum. In February 2013, Chris Pratt was cast in the role.

In January 2013, filming was scheduled to take place at Shepperton Studios in London, England, and Marvel Studios announced that the film would be released in 3D. Victoria Alonso, an executive producer on the film, said that filming would begin in June. She also said that both Rocket Raccoon and Groot would be created through a combination of CGI, going on to say that "You can't do any motion capture with a raccoon – they won't let you put the suit on [laughs]. But we will do rotomation, probably, for some of the behavior... we definitely will have performers to emulate what James Gunn will lead to be, the behavior and the performance. He's very clear on where he wants to take the characters." In an interview published in a March 2013 issue of SFX, Kevin Feige discussed Guardians of the Galaxy in relation to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "It's much more of a standalone film," said Feige. "It takes place in the same universe. And when we've been on the other side of that universe in other movies, you might see those characteristics in Guardians, but the Avengers are not involved with what's happening out there at this time." Feige also stated that 95% of the film would take place in space. In mid-March, Dave Bautista was signed to play Drax the Destroyer. Other actors who had been considered for the role included Isaiah Mustafa, Brian Patrick Wade and Jason Momoa. By the following week, sculptor Brian Muir, who sculpted Darth Vader's mask for the Star Wars films, was working on the film.

In April 2013, Zoe Saldana entered into negotiations to star as Gamora in the film. A few weeks later, Michael Rooker joined the film's cast, as Yondu. Later in the month, Saldana was confirmed to star in the film, and Ophelia Lovibond had been cast in a supporting role. Also by April, Lee Pace was final negotiations to play the villain of the film. By May, Marvel had offered John C. Reilly the role of Rhomann Dey, a character who the site described as a "human agent who serves as a go-between, keeping the Guardians in line and reporting to S.H.I.E.L.D. about their activities." At the same time, filmmakers were looking at actors, including Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman, and Ken Watanabe, for another role, and that Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were polishing the script. A few days later, Glenn Close was cast as the head of the Nova Corps in the film, followed shortly after by the casting of Karen Gillan as the film's lead female villain. By June 2013, Benicio del Toro was cast in the film, signing a multi-film deal with Marvel Studios. Later in the month, Reilly was confirmed to be cast as Rhomann Dey.

Filming
Filming began around July 6, 2013 in London, England, under the working title of "Full Tilt", with pre-shoots starting on June 24, 2013. Later in July, Gunn and the film's cast flew from London to attend the San Diego Comic-Con International, where it was revealed that Pace would play Ronan the Accuser, Gillan would be Nebula, del Toro as The Collector, and that Djimon Hounsou had been cast as Korath. Close was later revealed to play Nova Prime. Also at San Diego Comic-Con, Feige stated that Thanos would be a part of the film as the "mastermind". On August 11, 2013, filming began at London's Millennium Bridge. In August 2013, Marvel announced that Bradley Cooper would voice Rocket Raccoon. On September 3, 2013, Gunn said that filming was "a little over half[way]" complete. Also in September, Vin Diesel stated that he was voicing Groot. However, Marvel did not confirm Diesel's involvement in the film at the time. On October 12, 2013, Gunn tweeted that filming had completed.

Post-production
In November 2013, Gunn stated that he attempted to use as many practical effects as possible when filming to aid in the use of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) and motion capture, saying, "Our sets are enormous. We have a prison that is 350,000 pounds of steel. Anybody who knows me knows I love the mix of practical and CGI effects... I can't wait for people to see it, because it's astonishingly beautiful." After the release of Thor: The Dark World, Feige stated that the Infinity Stones would be a focus in the film, as well as going forward into Phase Three. In a separate interview for The Dark World, Feige added that a third, unknown Infinity Stone would be revealed in the film. In December 2013, Marvel announced that Diesel would voice Groot. A few weeks of additional filming, involving the film's main cast and crew, occurred in March 2014 at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. In April 2014, Gunn described Thanos as the "head of the snake" in the film, and confirmed he would appear via performance capture, with Feige adding at the end of the month that the studio has already cast the role.

Music
In August 2013, Gunn posted on his Facebook page that Tyler Bates would be composing the film's score. Gunn stated that Bates will write some of the score first so that he can film to the music, as opposed to scoring to the film. In February 2014, Gunn revealed that the film would incorporate songs from the 1970s and 1980s, such as "Hooked on a Feeling", on a mixtape in Quill's Walkman, which acts as a way for him to stay connected to the Earth, home and family he lost.

Marketing
In June 2012, Marvel filed eleven trademark applications for Guardians of the Galaxy, covering a variety of consumer products, from video games to cosmetics.

In August 2013, Feige presented footage first revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2013, at Disney's D23 Expo. Also in August, Disney partnered with Mad Engine, C-Life and New Era to produce merchandise for the film. Mad Engine and C-Life were partnered as the core apparel outfitters, producing a line of t-shirts and fleece jackets, while New Era will produce headwear and hats. The companies were joined by Hasbro, Disguise, and Sideshow Collectibles, who will produce toys, costumes and collectibles for the film. In January 2014, Lego announced they would release three toy sets based on scenes from the film, in August 2014.

The first trailer for the film debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on February 18, 2014, with a special introduction by Chris Pratt. The Los Angeles Times said the trailer "delivers some spirited alien action, with exploding spaceships and muscled bad guys, not to mention a few purely comedic moments," while spotlighting "a number of the offbeat characters." Total Film noted how the opening clip was reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which Gunn stated was a big influence for Guardians, and made note of the "edgy" humor used throughout. Total Film also stated the similarity of the trailer to the one debuted at Comic-Con and D23, with a few new shots featuring Nebula and the Collector. Social media response to the trailer was strong, with 88,000 mentions across Twitter, Facebook and various blogs in a 12-hour period. The numbers were comparable to trailers for other superhero films like Man of Steel and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and noteworthy for the late night in which it premiered.

In March 2014, ABC aired a one-hour television special titled, Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe, which included a sneak peek of Guardians of The Galaxy. Starting in April 2014, a two-part prelude comic will be released, titled Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by Wellington Alves, the first issue will focus on the background of Nebula and the bond she has with Thanos, while the second issue will feature the adventures of Rocket and Groot before they join forces.