Everything I’ve seen and learned about director James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy tells me it’s going to be something special.  Not only does the film have an incredible cast (Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Lee Pace and John C. Reilly) and feature plenty of new characters in the Marvel universe, it’s going to be unlike any Marvel film and unlike any other Hollywood sci-fi space adventure.

While we all knew Bradley Cooper was voicing Rocket Raccoon, I’ve been wondering what type of voice and accent he’d use for the role.  Earlier today, at the press junket for David O. Russell’s American Hustle, I asked Cooper how he got involved in the project and Rocket’s voice.  He revealed he wasn’t familiar with the comic when he was first approached for the role, and about his accent he said, “one thing we debated was…he’s seen as a cockney accent sometimes, so we talked about whether we’d do that or do this sort of other guy from the city a little bit.”  He also praised Pratt’s performance calling it “unbelievable” and that it “blew him away.”  Hit the jump for more.

Opening this weekend is writer/director Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) drama Out of the Furnace.  Shot entirely on location in and around Braddock, Pennsylvania, the film stars Christian Bale as an ex-con steel worker who seeks vengeance when his brother (Casey Affleck) disappears after getting involved with a local crime ring.  Out of the Furnace also stars Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe and Forest Whitaker.  For more on the film, watch the trailer or read all our previous coverage.

At the recent Los Angeles press day, I landed an exclusive interview with Zoe Saldana.  She talked about how she got involved in the project, what it was like to work with the amazing cast (specifically Bale), how she’s changed as an actor, changes on set, J.J. Abrams not directing Star Trek 3, working with James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy, having to do four to five hours of makeup every day, and much more.  Hit the jump for what she had to say.

Opening this weekend is DreamWorks comedy Delivery Man.  The film is a remake of director Ken Scott’s 2011 Canadian hit Starbuck and stars Vince Vaughn as a sperm donor who ends up being the biological father to 533 kids due to a mix up at the clinic.  Those kids are now suing to find out his identity, and Vaughn’s character sets out to become an anonymous “guardian angel” to his illegitimate children.  The film also stars Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders, and Britt Robertson.  For more on Delivery Man, watch the trailer.

At the recent Los Angeles press day, I landed a video interview with Chris Pratt.  He talked about what it’s like to look like the singer from Mouse Rat, being able to work with Vince Vaughn and Nick Offerman during the past year, whether it was tough working with the kids in Delivery Man, and since he’s one of the leads in Guardians of the Galaxy (he plays Peter Quill/Star-Lord), I asked how filming went and if the film mixes in a lot of humor with the action.  Hit the jump to watch.

As with all Marvel movies, Thor: The Dark World contained an end credits scene.  Two in fact, but only one was important to future movies.  It’s also probably the most confusing to mainstream audiences thus far.  Whereas other “stingers” were clear references like Thor’s hammer at the end credits of Iron Man 2, the reference during the end credits of Thor: The Dark World probably left a lot of non-comics fans scratching their heads.

In an attempt to clear some things up, I’ve put together an explanation of the scene, and you can read it after the jump.  Obviously, this explanation contains spoilers.

It’s been said many times before and it will keep being said: Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel’s riskiest movie to date.  Judging by what we’ve seen so far, it’s not only going to be unlike any Marvel film, but also unlike many sci-fi space adventures in recent memory.  This kind of bold, daring movie needs a bold, daring, and twisted (in a good way) director, and it has one in James Gunn.

While walking the red carpet for Thor: The Dark World, he was candid about the movie, which is unusual for most Marvel directors.  However, because Guardians is so strange, Marvel may be trying to get audiences acclimated as soon as possible.  After the jump, Gunn talks about how we’ll see a teaser of some kind fairly soon, working with Bradley Cooper to get the right voice for Rocket Raccoon, the practical sets, and more.  He also dances around Vin Diesel‘s role in the film.  Guardians of the Galaxy opens August 1, 2014. [Warning: Spoilers ahead]

Even though Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier haven’t come out yet, we can still look ahead to the penultimate Marvel Phase Two movie, Guardians of the Galaxy.  Yesterday, we reported on toys that would be in the toyline for the movie, and today we have a promo poster that was spotted in the wild (“wild” being a nicely furnished indoor area).  It doesn’t contain any images from the movie, but it does provide another nice shot of the main characters, and raises the question of what Star Lord (Chris Pratt) is holding.

Hit the jump to check out the image.  The film also stars Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Serafinowicz, and Benicio Del Toro.  Guardians of the Galaxy opens August 1, 2014.

You can always trust the toy people jump the gun when it comes to information on a movie.  The merchandise is developed incredibly early because it’s one of the most important revenue streams for blockbusters.  It also doesn’t have to adhere to final plots, although sometimes they do.  We’ve received Hasbro’s listing of toys for Guardians of the Galaxy, a property ideally suited for a toyline.  It’s not just one protagonist.  There are five (Star Lord, Drax, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon) and plenty of supporting characters.  As anyone who’s been to a toy store knows, just because an action figure is on the rack, it doesn’t mean it’s in the movie (e.g., War Machine isn’t in Iron Man 3).

Hit the jump for a list of toys that will be attached to Guardians of the Galaxy, but consider yourself warned about possible spoilers.  The film stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Serafinowicz, and Benicio Del Toro.  Guardians of the Galaxy opens August 1, 2014.

It’s rare that a movie will announce its scene-stealer before the movie opens, but Rocket Raccoon (who will be voiced by Bradley Cooper) is being tipped to be the standout character in Guardians of the Galaxy.  As far back as six months ago, director James Gunn said Rocket Raccoon was the heart of the movie.  Now star Chris Pratt, who plays Star Lord, is singing the praises of the talking raccoon.  At a party to celebrate the 100th episode of Parks and Recreation, Pratt told Access Hollywood that Rocket isn’t a cartoon, but a real character.  It’s a statement that lines up with Gunn’s comments at Comic-Con where he said Rocket Racoon was “not about creating Bugs Bunny in the middle of The Avengers.”

Hit the jump for more on what Pratt and co-star Michael Rooker had to say about Rocket Racoon.  The film also stars Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Benicio Del Toro, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Serafinowicz, and Vin Diesel.  Guardians of the Galaxy opens August 1, 2014.

During some down time on the set of James Wan’s Fast & Furious 7, Vin Diesel took advantage of his free time to get in some training for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.  Diesel may be pretty imposing on screen, but he needs a bit of help in the height department in order to play the tree-like Groot.  He posted a fun behind-the-scenes video featuring his training, along with a few words on both films.  As a special bonus, Diesel’s co-star Djimon Hounsou, who will appear in both films, also makes a special appearance in the short video.  Hit the jump to check it out.  Fast & Furious 7 is due out July 11, 2014, and Guardians of the Galaxy will follow less than a month later on August 1, 2014. 

The romantic comedy Baggage Claim follows Montana Moore (Paula Patton), a successful flight attendant and a devoted daughter, sister and friend, who just can’t manage to get her love life together.  With the help of her two best friends, Gail (Jill Scott) and Sam (Adam Brody), they devise a plan to have Montana conveniently meet up with eligible ex-boyfriends to see if any of them have since become the perfect guy.  Directed by David E. Talbert, the film also stars Derek Luke, Djimon Hounsou, Taye Diggs, Boris Kodjoe, Terrence J, Jenifer Lewis, Christina Milian, La La Anthony and Affion Crockett.

At the film’s press day, actor Djimon Hounsou (who plays the wealthy and exotic Quinton Jamison) spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about why this project appealed to him, the opportunity he had to create his own backstory for the character, that he believes people should get to know and enjoy each other before considering marriage, and how much he enjoyed working with co-star Paula Patton.  He also talked about how important it was for him to show some diversity in a superhero movie like Guardians of the Galaxy, how fun and entertaining Marvel movies are to watch, and how he hopes to get some of his own projects into production soon.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Starlord. Drax the Destroyer. Gamora. Groot. Rocket Raccoon. Remember these names, my friends, as these are about to reach the same level as Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America for the general public.  Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel Studios’ next team movie.  Hitting the silver screens on August 1st, 2014, Guardians will be the summer movie to beat.  Considering this is Marvel’s first original, and certainly different, property making the jump from comic books to the movies in some time, they’re hedging their bets that the film will stand tall alongside its fellow Avengers.

What is it about this motley cast of characters that elicits positive reactions from those who have read their stories?  What is it about the movie itself that gives Marvel such high hopes?  What makes this ragtag group of universe travellers better than their earth based super hero counterparts?  Hit the jump for Collider’s look into what Marvel’s next big enterprise is all about.

We previously reported that Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) was in talks to voice Rocket Raccoon in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy … and then we confirmed that, yes, he was indeed in talks.  Now, since nothing is official until it’s stamped by Marvel, we can report that Cooper has indeed joined the ambitious picture as the voice of the anthropomorphic raccoon.

The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy, which opens August 1, 2014, also features Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Lee Pace and John C. Reilly, and maybe Vin Diesel if and when we hear that he’s officially voicing Groot.  Hit the jump for more.

No one can say anything about a Marvel movie until the press junket rolls around, which is a bit sad because by that time, people are already looking to the next Marvel movie (live in the moment, people!).  James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy is currently shooting in London, and while it was assumed that star Chris Pratt, who plays the half-alien, half-human Star-Lord, would sit out some episodes of Parks and Recreation, he’s actually racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles by traveling between Los Angeles and London.  His crazy schedule may not be secret, but when doing an interview on the set of Parks and Recreation, he couldn’t say much about Guardians.  However, he did provide a few broad tidbits.

Hit the jump for his comments.  The film also stars Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Benicio Del Toro, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Serafinowicz, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot.  Guardians of the Galaxy opens August 1, 2014.

While doing press for his upcoming film Riddick, star Vin Diesel revealed a bit more about his secretive meetings with Marvel.  He didn’t outright confirm that he would be voicing the tree-like Groot in the studio’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but it sounds like he’s one all-important signature away from announcing the role.  What’s more interesting in this particular soundbite is the news that Diesel and Marvel originally met to talk about launching a fresh property in 2016 or 2017, but then talks turned to more immediate opportunities.

James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, also starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Benicio Del Toro, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou and Peter Serafinowicz, opens August 1, 2014.  Hit the jump to see what Diesel has revealed about his Marvel meetings.

Production is currently underway in London on director James Gunn’s Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy, and all signs point to this one being quite the standout in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Gunn has assembled a cast that is as eclectic as it is surprising, with Chris Pratt leading an ensemble that includes Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, and Lee Pace.  We learned yesterday that Bradley Cooper is in early talks to voice Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel may or may not be portraying the talking tree Groot.

The footage we saw at Comic-Con promised a subversive and very funny Guardians film, and now Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has offered up some tantalizing details about the pic, including the identity of the film’s main villain, the role of Thanos in the pic, and when the film takes place in relation to the other Phase Two movies.  Hit the jump to read on.