Tag: Guardians of The Galaxy 3

Posted on in Film News, News

‘I Am Groot’ Director Kirsten Lepore Open To Tackling Next Live-Action ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Installment

Earlier this year, with “Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3” we saw what could potentially be the final Marvel Studios film from writer/director James Gunn as the filmmaker is going off to shoot “Superman: Legacy” next year alongside running DC Studios and developing more DCU projects that he’ll end up making himself like “Creature Commandos.” Marvel is still looking to mine the cosmic side of the MCU with the Skrulls revealed to be on Earth in “Secret Invasion,” “The Marvels” releasing in November as we’ll see the return of the Kree Empire as villains, and an upcoming “Nova” project also in the works focusing on the space hero after the destruction of the Nova Corps. at the hands of Thanos.

The Disney+ original “I Am Groot” has returned with a second season focusing on the little rascal in quirky/inventive shorts, and seems like director Kirsten Lepore (“Adventure Time”) after tackling two seasons of the animated shorts would be willing to fill Gunn’s seat as director on the next “Guardians of The Galaxy.” While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, it was brought up about the potential of Lepore continuing the franchise by helming the next “Guardians” installment.

“Yeah, I’m open to it, for sure. Years ago, I was like, ‘I definitely want to do live-action!’ I was trying to move into live-action, and now, I think I’m more at peace. I don’t even want to say ‘at peace’ because I’m not settling. I love animation so much. I think I better understand what I bring to animation because it does take a really specific type of person to direct it. I’ve been doing it for so long and I feel very comfortable in that space, and I feel good at it. So I really enjoy working in animation — and I would be totally happy to work in animation for the rest of my life — but I would also be very curious to experiment with live-action,” Lepore responded when asked about directing the next “Guardians of The Galaxy” feature film.

It’s not like “Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3” didn’t leave room for more installments it ends with Peter Quill on Earth trying to reconnect with his grandfather and homeworld. Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) is now the team’s leader with Groot (Vin Diesel), Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Cosmo (Maria Bakalova), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Phyla (Kai Zen), and Blurp on the new roster going on missions.

Lepore isn’t exactly unfamiliar with feature films after having been the animation director on the Oscar-nominated animated film “Marcel The Shell With Shoes On,” and worked as a VFX artist on recent Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” Having someone with an effects background might be sort of an asset if more than half the members of the new Guardians lineup are going to be digital characters. Marvel has hired directors from within the studio that have previously worked on MCU projects. Seeing Lepore recruited for a hypothetical “Guardians of The Galaxy 4” after already working closely with the studio on “I Am Groot” (already working with Diesel and Cooper) wouldn’t be all that shocking.

“I Am Groot” is currently streaming on Disney+ and you can watch the series trailer below.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in News

Chris Pratt Tapped To Voice ‘Garfield’ In A New Animated Film

Chris Pratt is suddenly getting a lot of studio voice acting work after headlining the Lego movies for Warner Bros. and most recently turning heads when he was cast as the voice of Mario in a Super Mario Bros. animated film at Illumination/Universal Pictures.

The actor is now reportedly set to play another iconic character, as The Hollywood Reporter revealed he’s been selected to voice Garfield in a new animated movie for Alcon Entertainment and will be distributed by Sony Pictures.

Garfield’s script was penned by Oscar nominee David Reynolds (Finding Nemo) and directed by Mark Dindal (Chicken Little), the two previously worked together on Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove. He’s a sarcastic lazy orange tabby that is obsessed with lasagna, hating Mondays, and terrorizing the lovable but simple dog, Odie, by kicking him off tables.

You might remember Bill Murray voiced the cinematic version of Garfield in the live-action hybrid movies at 20th Century Fox (pre-merger), the casting was a nod to Lorenzo Music, who originally voiced the cartoon cat and also Murray’s Ghostbusters character in The Real Ghostbusters.

I’m slightly confused why Alcon didn’t simply cast Pratt’s Parks & Rec co-star Nick Offerman, who obviously is a better fit for the lazy sarcastic cat when Pratt gives off major Jon Arbuckle vibes.

Pratt is about to begin shooting James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 and is loosely attached for a sequel to The Tomorrow War, the sci-fi actioner from Christ McKay that landed at Amazon.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3’: Will Poulter Reportedly Lands Adam Warlock Role

Over the weekend, The Cosmic Circus posted the rumor that British actor Will Poulter was in the mix to play Adam Warlock in James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 and it seems that was on point.

Today, Deadline is supporting the rumor by reporting that Poulter has signed-on to play Adam Warlock.

There is a shot that he could also be playing the villainous incarnation, Magus too.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 ended with a tease that Ayesha, Golden High Priestess of The Sovereign, is going to bring Adam Warlock into the sequel as his cocoon was shown. Gunn has since denied that Adam Warlock will be in the film among other rumors connected to the film including the casting of Star Wars actor Mark Hamill.

Back in 2017, Gunn told IGN that Adam Warlock would be part of the cosmic universe post-Infinity War/Endgame, while also dodging a confirmation of Warlock’s involvement in the third installment. We do know that Ayesha is coming back though.

Will Poulter’s credits include the fantastic Ari Aster horror pic Midsommar (led by Black Widow actress Florence Pugh), Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, The Revenant, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit. He had been originally attached as a key cast member on the Lord of The Rings series at Amazon, only to bail months before production started in Auckland, New Zealand and was replaced with Game of Thrones’ Robert Aramayo.

James Gunn confirmed the news on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1447694295121678347

The Hollywood Reporter briefly adds that British actors Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton, The Gray Man, Dungeons & Dragons, The Saint), and George MacKay (1917) were part of a shortlist of actors considered for Adam Warlock.

Filming will begin this November in Atlanta and the United Kingdom.

The returning cast will be Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

It’s crew is expected to include production designer Beth Mickle (The Suicide Squad, Drive), cinematographer Tico Poulakakis (Foundation), the visual effects supervisor will be Stephane Ceretti (Eternals, Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man & The Wasp), and will have Hawkeye stunt coordinator Heidi Moneymaker crafting the film’s action sequences.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023

SOURCE: THE COSMIC CIRCUS & DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3’ Seemingly Adds ‘Foundation’ Cinematographer Tico Poulakakis

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is finally about to get in front of cameras after a massive production delay (James Gunn’s firing and rehiring by Disney) and there is new information that supports Chris Pratt’s previous quotes about the third installment starting production in November.

Recently, we pointed out that previous franchise cinematographers Ben Davis or Henry Branham were busy on other projects and might mean a new person might land the gig.

Someone has shared with us a listing from Production Weekly that names Canadian cinematographer Tico Poulakakis for the Marvel Studios sequel. His credits include Doctor Who, American Gods, Star Trek Discovery, Locke & Key, and the upcoming high-profile Isaac Asimov adaptation, Foundation.

However, we haven’t been able to confirm/authenticate Poulakakis’ involvement but Will Mavity on Twitter mentioned him for the project back in May (likely also from a previous Production Weekly listing as Mavity has posted grids before).

The listing also mentions a shoot that will take place from November 4, 2021 to May 2, 2022.

However, were previously able to confirm the film is indeed shooting in Atlanta (the United Kingdom is still expected as a location too), the visual effects supervisor will be Stephane Ceretti (Eternals, Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man & The Wasp), and will have Hawkeye stunt coordinator Heidi Moneymaker crafting the film’s action sequences.

Beth Mickle (Drive), who recently worked with James Gunn on The Suicide Squad is seemingly still attached as Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3’s production designer.

The returning cast is assumed to include Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

Dave Bautista has indicated that this third installment will be his final outing as Drax.

Hopefully, we’ll start learning the names of new cast members very soon as the fall production starts looms closer.

We’ll see the Guardians next in Thor: Love & Thunder, but there role in the film is said to be minimal.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 ended with a tease that Ayesha, Golden High Priestess of The Sovereign, is going to bring Adam Warlock into the sequel as his cocoon was shown. Gunn has since denied that Adam Warlock will be in the film among other rumors connected to the film including the casting of Star Wars actor Mark Hamill.

Back in 2017, Gunn told IGN that Adam Warlock would be part of the cosmic universe post-Infinity War/Endgame, while also dodging a confirmation of Warlock’s involvement in the third installment. We do know that Ayesha is coming back though.

A variant of Gamora from a different point of time in the MCU is also running around after the time-travel events of Avengers: Endgame.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3’ Enlists ‘Hawkeye’ Stunt Coordinator Heidi Moneymaker

Production on James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is said to be finally happening this November and will wrap in April, according to star Chris Pratt.

We’ve been waiting longer than usual for the sequel because Disney fired and then rehired the filmmaker over tasteless tweets. In the meantime, James Gunn was hired by Warner Bros. to write and direct The Suicide Squad, that released last month. Leading to extensive delays but prep is underway with it’s looming fall production start.

There are some crew updates we can now share.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that Stephane Ceretti is indeed working on Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3. Ceretti has worked on other MCU films such as Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man & The Wasp, and the upcoming Chloe Zhao pic Eternals.

We’re also hearing that Heidi Moneymaker will be the film’s stunt coordinator.

You might be familiar with Moneymaker as she was Scarlett Johansson’s longtime stunt double from Iron Man 2 to Black Widow. She was a stunt coordinator on the upcoming Hawkeye series (her sister Renae Moneymaker doubling for Hailee Steinfeld), fight coordinator on Disney’s live-action Mulan along with other other stunt work on Avatar 2, John Wick: Chapter 2, and Hobbs & Shaw.

UPDATE: James Gunn has confirmed our reporting on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1452330987669663756

Moneymaker confirmed her role as stunt coordinator on Hawkeye to Looper back in July.

“I was just the boss on this one. I did a couple of [pre-visualizations] before we had our full team, and when we didn’t have all of our doubles and stuff. So, I did a couple of pre-vises with my sis. And my sister was on the show as well, and some of the guys. But I didn’t actually do any on-camera. Too busy. It was a busy, busy show.”

Fellow Marvel Studios stuntwoman Monique Ganderton was the stunt coordinator on Avengers: Endgame, Loki, and She-Hulk. So, the studio promoting these stunt folks to coordinators isn’t that terribly strange.

The returning cast is assumed to include Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

Filming is all but confirmed to be taking place in Atlanta, Georgia and may shoot some sequences in the United Kingdom.

Production designer Beth Mickle (Drive, Only God Forgives) has been attached for the Guardians sequel for ages and ended up making The Suicide Squad with Gunn.

Previous cinematographers Ben Davis or Henry Branham (The Flash, The Suicide Squad) might be unavailable as they’re currently involved with other film projects. However, we could speculate that someone like Michael Bonvillain (Zombieland, Cloverfield) might be a good candidate to shoot the third movie, after recently being the director of photography on Gunn’s Peacemaker series at HBO Max.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023

Posted on in Film News

Karen Gillan Says Working With Taika Waititi On ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Was A Fun Experience; Teases ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3’ Script Is “Incredible”

Karen Gillan is ditching the blue makeup for her latest feature film, Gunpowder Milkshake, an all-female action project at Netflix that seemingly takes cues from modern flicks like John Wick. The Scottish actress is currently doing press for the movie and revealed to Variety what it was like working with director Taikai Waititi earlier this year during the Australian shoot for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

“Taika is amazing. It was so cool to take this character and work with him. Taika definitely brings out a different, more silly sight of Nebula, for sure. Which makes total sense because his stuff is more wacky and bonkers, in the best possible way. His technique is so improvisational, especially in a big blockbuster film, you don’t expect to get that much freedom to improvise. He just shouts out things like, ‘Do this! Say that again! Again!’ It’s such a fun experience,” Karen Gillan said of her experience working with director Taika Waititi on Thor: Love & Thunder.

She also adds that James Gunn’s script for Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is “incredible” without expanding upon that in any great detail. The third installment will begin shooting this November according to Star-Lord actor Chris Pratt and has a release date of May 5, 2023.

Gillan’s action pic Gunpowder Milkshake hits Netflix on July 14 and has a sequel in early development at StudioCanal.

GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE – Sam (Karen Gillan) was only 12 years old when her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), an elite assassin, was forced to abandon her. Sam was raised by The Firm, the ruthless crime syndicate her mother worked for. Now, 15 years later, Sam has followed in her mother’s footsteps and grown into a fierce hit-woman. But when a high-risk job goes wrong, Sam must choose between serving The Firm and protecting the life of an innocent 8-year-old girl – Emily (Chloe Coleman). With a target on her back, Sam has only one chance to survive: Reunite with her mother and her lethal associates, The Librarians (Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino). These three generations of women must now learn to trust each other, stand up to The Firm and their army of henchmen, and raise hell against those who could take everything from them.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Dave Bautista Game To See Drax The Destroyer Get His Traditional Comic Book Costume In ‘Guardians of The Galaxy 3’

Marvel Studios will finally begin shooting Guardians of The Galaxy 3 in November, according to star Chris Pratt and fans are already assembling wish lists for the sci-fi superhero film.

James Gunn recently laughed-off the fan idea of giving Drax The Destroyer his traditional look (see above) from the comic books (includes a cowl, cape, and top) in the upcoming sequel, however, Dave Bautista jokingly chimed-in giving his endorsement on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1412202496097931267?

You can’t really blame Dave Bautista, considering that adding more clothes to the character would cut-down on the time he spends in the makeup chair as to play Drax in previous films he’s had half his body covered in special effects makeup. Even if they’re covering his torso, that would likely trim time in the makeup trailer.

Bautista has suggested this will be his final outing as Drax and that he hasn’t been terribly happy with how he’s become simply the comic relief, instead of being a fearsome alien strong-man. There had been early rumblings that we could see Drax’s daughter Moondragon in the sequel, who eventually became a member of the Avengers, but this has yet to be confirmed by Marvel or supported by trades.

Ultimately, it’s director James Gunn’s call and he’ll be wrapping up his HBO Max series Peacemaker soon, so he can start pivoting to focus on prep for Guardians of The Galaxy 3 ahead of it’s production start in the United Kingdom. The rest of returning cast is expected to include Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023 and we have to assume the Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special will air on Disney+ around December 2022. However, we’ll see the Guardians next in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder on May 6, 2022 as they shot scenes during the production in Australia earlier this year.

SOURCE: DAVE BAUTISTA

Posted on in Television News

UPDATE: ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special’ Using The Working Title Of ‘Buzzcut’

James Gunn is wrapping on his HBO Max series Peacemaker next month and is already gearing up to shoot both Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3. and a Disney+ holiday special as well.

Production Weekly has listed the working title of Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special will be Buzzcut, the working title for the third film has been Hot Christmas (confirmed).

UPDATE: James Gunn has debunked Production Weekly’s new info via Twitter, which is another reason to be cautious about their information.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1410847687071592448

A reminder that working titles are mainly used during filming and then are discarded once the project is locked.

There is an assumption the projects will see the return of Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. It’s still questionable if we’ll see Zoe Saldana as Gamora in both.

Filming on Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 was revealed to be set for November to April, this news comes after Star-Lord actor Chris Pratt mentioned the production schedule during a visit to Jimmy Kimmel! after he was asked when they would be making the sequel. It will mainly be taking place in the United Kingdom, a location that is already being used for for Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels.

Other recent working titles for Marvel projects include the following.

LOKI – ARCHITECT

BLACK WIDOW = BLUE BAYOU

ETERNALS = SACK LUNCH

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS = STEAMBOAT

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS = STELLAR VORTEX

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME = THE NOVEMBER PROJECT

THOR: LOVE & THUNDER = THE BIG SALAD

SHE-HULK = CLOVER

MOON KNIGHT = GOOD FAITH

THE MARVELS = GOAT RODEO

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER = SUMMER BREAK

ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA = DUST BUNNY

SECRET INVASION = JAMBALAYA

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023 and we have to assume the Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special will air on Disney+ around December 2022. However, we’ll see the Guardians next in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder on May 6, 2022 as they shot scenes during the production in Australia earlier this year.

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY

Posted on in Film News

Chris Pratt Reveals That ‘Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3’ Will Shoot November To April

As Marvel Studios has wrapped on Doctor Strange 2, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Thor: Love & Thunder, and a handful of their live-action shows. They still have a bunch of things that will begin shooting this year. It’s going to be a big year for Marvel sequels with The Marvels, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania are on deck alongside James Gunn’s potentially last Guardians installment, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3.

Franchise lead Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his upcoming Amazon Prime Video film The Tomorrow War and confirmed the third film’s production scheduling will be November to April. However, despite already reading the script the actor couldn’t dish any details.

“We will be shooting at the end of this year to beginning of next year, like November to, maybe, April,” Chris Pratt old the late night talk show host when asked about the sequel’s production schedule.

It’s been confirmed that Guardians 3 will be filming in the United Kingdom under the working title Hot Christmas and was given a prime release date of May 5, 2023.

SOURCE: JIMMY KIMMEL

Posted on in Film News

James Gunn Reaffirms ‘The Suicide Squad’ Has “Scratched” His Itch To Make A ‘Thunderbolts’ Movie For Marvel Studios

While James Gunn has been set-out to make multiple Guardians of The Galaxy films, he once mused about the idea of adapting Marvel Comics supervillain team Thunderbolts for the big screen. The group is essentially Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad and various members have been introduced over the years to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

When Gunn was fired from the third Guardians movie he met with Warner Bros. and led to him writing/directing their sequel The Suicide Squad. During a Q&A session on his Instagram stories, James reaffirmed to a fan that he isn’t looking to make a Thunderbolts movie for Marvel Studios and that The Suicide Squad “scratched that itch.”

This doesn’t mean that Marvel Studios won’t pursue a Thunderbolts project just because Gunn isn’t stepping away from his original idea of adapting the team. As previously mentioned, Marvel seems to be aiming to leave the door open for them to be assembled at some point as Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo ended-up in Thunderbolt Ross’ super-prison The Raft by the final episode of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier series.

Other folks that might be part of the roster could include Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, William Hurt’s Thunderbolt Ross aka Red Hulk, Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky aka Abomination, and the newly added John Walker aka U.S. Agent played by Wyatt Russell. Black Widow’s Yelena Belova and Taskmaster could also be contenders depending on the outcome of that film.

It’ll be interesting to see if Marvel if we’ll see the Thunderbolts introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Captain America 4. I’m also curious if the MCU version could combine Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts into one streamlined group.

Gunn has said that Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is going to be end of his journey but isn’t ready to say he’s closing the door on making another Guardians project down the line.

SOURCE: JAMES GUNN