Sunday, March 09, 2014

Watch The Entire "Guardians Of The Galaxy" Live Chat

AMC Theatres hosted a live chat featuring director James Gunn, actor Chris Pratt and Marvel suit Kevin Feige for the upcoming film adaptation of the comic book "Guardians Of The Galaxy".


The Guardians of the Galaxy comic book follows a US pilot who ends up in space during a universal conflict, then is forced to go on the run with a band of futuristic alien ex-cons.

Chris Pratt is Peter Quill/Star-Lord-The character is an interplanetary policeman and the Guardians leader who is born of a human mother and alien father.

WWE superstar Dave Bautista plays Drax the Destroyer who born as the human Arthur Douglas, whose family was attacked and murdered by the villainous Thanos (seen in the credt post-script of The Avengers). Arthur's spirit was then placed into a powerful new body by Kronos, which resulted in Drax the Destroyer's creation. The superhero's powers include incredible strength and the ability to emit energy blasts from his hands.

Zoe Saldana is Gamora a "green-skinned humanoid who is the last of a species that was exterminated by a race known as the Badoon" who also "happens to be a skilled assassin."

"The Walking Dead" fave Michael Rooker plays Yondu Udonta who first appeared in a 1969. He hails from the Zatoan tribe on Centauri IV, the first planet to be colonized outside of the Sun's solar system in the 29th Century. Yondu does not possess any super-human abilities, but he is a skilled hunter with a bow and arrow, and has a mystical "sixth sense" that gives him limited empathic abilities with other life forms. He is one of the founding members of the group.

The lovely Ophelia Lovibond plays "The Collector" who "gathers artifacts and beings in the hopes of saving them from a foretold galactic annihilation."

John C. Reilly has been offered the role of Rhomann Dey in the film who is said to be "Agent Coulson of the 'Guardians' movies," a human agent who serves as a go-between with S.H.I.E.L.D. This is quite different from the comic character, described as an alien centurion in the Nova Corps. There's were reports that the studio was interested in either Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman or Ken Watanabe to play the role of a colleague of the Dey's.

Glenn Close is "playing a leadership role in Nova Corp, the intergalactic space patrol. ... Close’s role would be the closest thing to the one that Samuel L. Jackson plays in Avengers movie.

Benicio Del Toro is playing The Collector. who is billions of years old and does exactly that - collect rare or valuable items from across the universe. He also has the power of prophecy and created a museum of countless life forms to keep them safe from Thanos.

Lee Pace plays the villain Ronan The Accussor is an alien Kree with superhuman powers. He was a villain, but has become more heroic in the comics - so he'll probably have an arc in the film.

Actress Karen Gillan is set to play Nebula  a space pirate and the apparent granddaughter of Thanos.

Vin Diesel will be providing the voice for Groot who can absorb wood to gain strength, as well as control trees. The surprise here is that the is not as high as profile a role as many though it was going to be.

Bradley Cooper will provide the voice for Rocket Raccoon who has a penchant for big guns and is also a master tactician. He’s best friends with Groot and in the comics was captain of a starship.

No new footage was screened and there were no surprise guests at the event--Still plenty of new details about the film were shared  that Gunn describes as having "a lot of old-school space opera about it."

Asked about the film's connection to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, Feige says: "[It] couldn't be more distant in geography to the other films. 99% of this movie takes place on the other side of the galaxy. Never mind the themes and character interaction... there are a handful of characters you'll see in this movie who will carry through to other films as threats to Earth."

While adapting all the characters was difficult, Gunn says Rooker's Yondu in particular "was a big deal... he has a more delicate superpower... If you believe who they are as characters and what their intentions are, then it works... You have to fall in love with a talking raccoon and believe that he exists. Take these outlandish concepts, make it fun, but making it as believable as possible."

The characters of 'Bug' and 'Lord Tantalus' were in early drafts but didn't make the film. Asked about fan-favorite Cosmo, Feige says: "Rocket was always going to be the focus. But, fans of Cosmo will have to wait and see the movie."

Asked about the use of Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling" in the teaser trailer, Gunn says: "There's a lot of things that people will find out when they see the movie. The song's in the movie. We know about the Walkman. Quill has a Sony Walkman and that song's on his mixtape."

The whole point of the project according to Feige was "to do something new... something original... doing something, frankly, that most people had never heard of." Gunn adds: "I do think that it is a completely original movie, and I do think that it is a character piece at the core of it."

The work of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for the "Guardians" comic heavily influenced the film, especially the  humor. Pratt spent seven months losing weight and getting into fighting fit shape for his role as Star-Lord.

Asked about additional shooting, Feige says "we build that in from the very beginning on the actor's schedules, in the actual budget. We always build in additional time for when a cool idea comes up. James has had some cool ideas so we're going to get after that."

Gregg Henry also stars.

Screenwriter Chris McCoy was hired to rewrite Nicole Perlman’s original script.

The film arrives August 1, 2014.

Here's the complete chat:

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