Chris Pratt Lands GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Lead

[Tribal Warfare]

Chris Pratt Lands GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Lead

After countless shortlist stories and rumors concerning who would play Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the search for the lead role is finally over, and fittingly the actor is someone who never appeared on any of the aforementioned lists. Deadline reports that Chris Pratt has been tapped to play Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, a character who was born of a human mother and alien father, and is a master strategist and combat expert who wears an ability-enhancing suit and pilots a psychically-linked ship. As Guardians features a cast of strange and cosmic characters, Quill was an important role to fill because he will likely act as the audience’s introduction to the vast, unfamiliar Guardians world. Hit the jump for more.

There were plenty of actors rumored for the role that made a lot of sense (John Krasinski, Zachary Levi, etc.), and Deadline notes that Marvel made test deals with Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Lee Pace, and Eddie Redmayne, but Chris Pratt actually seems like a perfect fit. His comic timing is excellent as evidenced by his work on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, and he’s shown his talent on the dramatic side with Moneyball and 2012’s Zero Dark Thirty, for which he also proved that he can beef up for a role if need-be.

Looking back on the previous shortlists and taking Pratt into consideration, it’s clear that writer/director James Gunn is planning on injecting a good amount of humor into Guardians of the Galaxy. A rumor surfaced recently that Marvel was looking at possibly tapping Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler to do voice work in the film (one of the guardians is a talking raccoon), so I’m interested to see the tone that Gunn settles on for the finished film.

With the role of Star-Lord secure, Gunn and Marvel now look to filling out the rest of the cast, which includes the powerful Drax the Destroyer, a giant tree named Groot, the aforementioned Rocket Raccoon, and the female lead Gamora. The story is also rumored to involve the villain Thanos. Expect to hear more soon as production gears up to begin later this year. Guardians of the Galaxy will be released in 3D on August 1, 2014.

[unlurking]

Just got back into the states yesterday. Will go see today. Looks like it is going over well at the box office...

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2014&p=.htm

[unlurking]

I usually hit matinee movies because they are cheap and often no more than 2 dozen others in the theater. Went to the closer movie house that has awesome leather reclining seats and good sound. Sadly, it was sold out (except for the front row, they now do reserved seating). This was a 10:40AM showing.

WTF?!?!

A sold out showing before noon of a movie that's been out for 3 weeks?! Again, WTF?! Ended up seeing it in IMAX 3D (or what passes for IMAX outside of museums these days).

Movie was awesome. Absolutely loved it. Easily top 3 of all Marvel movies IMO. Arguably #1 for me, based on the fact that I love space based stories. The cosmic stories are more fun for me, so I easily enjoyed this movie over the others. Admittedly, CA2 was the more polished movie, but GotG was the most fun for me. I will likely see this again. In 2D this time. Super high expectations for GotG2.

Only thing I didn't like was Pace's portrayal of Ronan. Was very flat to me.

Anyone recognize Nathan Fillion? I didn't. Had to look it up.

[Silock]

I didn't mind Ronan. My biggest problem with the movie is Merle.

[Silock]

Also, this might explain why it's sold out:

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2014&p=.htm

It's going to easily pass Captain America 2, I would think.

[Aries Walker]

Originally Posted by Silock

I didn't mind Ronan. My biggest problem with the movie is Merle.

Absolutely. He took me out of the moment every time he and his so-out-of-place southern drawl showed up.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

Absolutely. He took me out of the moment every time he and his so-out-of-place southern drawl showed up.

I really don't mind the southern drawl. It is associated with being out of your element, dirty, children of the corn-ish. I don't feel that way, at all. But it happens all the time in movies. Want the audience to feel unsettled? Throw some scuzzy mother****er out there with a drawl.

Happens all the time in cinema. I'm not sure why people are bitching now.

[unlurking]

I didn't mind Rooker as much as I expected to. Seemed like Gunn wrapped the Yondu character around the accent. Don't get me wrong, I could have done without the drawl, but at least the acting was appropriate for the character. And Rooker fits the stereotype you'd think of for the role. I stopped watching Walking Dead awhile back, so that probably helped too.

Ronan on the other hand, was just stiff. He also seemed rather effeminate. Not sure how to explain it. Kind of sad though, that they seemed to turn Ronan into a throw away plot device as a means to introduce Thanos. Can't wait for Thanos, but as disappointed as I was in Pace, I still love Ronan.

[Bowser]

I assume that Ronan isn't DEAD dead, right? I mean, he plays a pretty big role in the galactic scope of the Marvel Universe....

[unlurking]

I can't imagine permanently. How many characters have actually died in Marvel? 1? 2? Though I do think Marvel needs to get a few more stories out before introducing the fact that nobody ever dies.

[Swanman]

Originally Posted by Bowser

I assume that Ronan isn't DEAD dead, right? I mean, he plays a pretty big role in the galactic scope of the Marvel Universe....

Ronan is normally a good guy in the comics as well so they went pretty far outside of his character in the comics. In the comics he is extremely ideological, but not genocidal. I just read War of Kings and he is pretty central in that with the Kree/Inhumans fighting the Shi'Ar.

On a side note, for those that enjoy reading comics, Marvel Unlimited is a really good deal. It's like around $70 per year but you have online access to a shitload of comics, and quite a bit of recent stuff. So if you are like me and have a ton of catching up to do, it's not a bad deal.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by unlurking

I can't imagine permanently. How many characters have actually died in Marvel? 1? 2? Though I do think Marvel needs to get a few more stories out before introducing the fact that nobody ever dies.

They kill plenty of people off.


They just bring them back nearly every time. Which cheapens the whole story and lessens any character death from then on...

[Swanman]

Originally Posted by Rausch

They kill plenty of people off.


They just bring them back nearly every time. Which cheapens the whole story and lessens any character death from then on...

Thanos dies like every 15 minutes it seems like. But his story is all about wanting to die but Death not wanting to give him what he wants. So each time he comes back he is even more maniacal in trying to impress Death so she will actually let him die.

[unlurking]

Well, that was pretty damn quick...

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2014&p=.htm

Rank	Movie Title (click to view)	Studio	Total Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Open	Close
1	Guardians of the Galaxy	BV	$262,142,000	4,088	$94,320,883	4,080	8/1	-
2	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	BV	$259,766,572	3,938	$95,023,721	3,938	4/4	8/21
3	The LEGO Movie	WB	$257,750,402	3,890	$69,050,279	3,775	2/7	-
4	Transformers: Age of Extinction	Par.	$243,950,966	4,233	$100,038,390	4,233	6/27	-
5	Maleficent	BV	$237,841,302	3,948	$69,431,298	3,948	5/30	-
6	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Fox	$232,814,528	4,001	$90,823,660	3,996	5/23	-
7	Dawn of the Planet of the Apes	Fox	$204,419,991	3,969	$72,611,427	3,967	7/11	-
8	The Amazing Spider-Man 2	Sony	$202,853,933	4,324	$91,608,337	4,324	5/2	8/17
9	Godzilla (2014)	WB	$200,672,193	3,952	$93,188,384	3,952	5/16	-
10	22 Jump Street	Sony	$190,267,743	3,426	$57,071,445	3,306	6/13	-

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by unlurking

Well, that was pretty damn quick...

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2014&p=.htm

Pratt is dominating.

[Deberg_1990]

Pretty cool. At least the top 3 highest grossing movies of the year are legitimately great movies.