The First Official Photo for Guardians of the Galaxy

Walt Disney Studios just sent over a hi-res photo of the first official photo for Marvel Studios' GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

Pictured from Left to Right: Gamorra (Zoe Saldana), Peter Quill/ Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista/ Batista) and Groot (Vin Diesel).

Here's a rather lengthy synopsis from Marvel Studios:

The first official photo has gone online from Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy." The still shows the five major characters who make up the team - Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot.

From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of “Iron Man,” “Thor,” “Captain America” and “The Avengers,” comes a new team – the “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

An action-packed, epic space adventure, “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits–Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer.

But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand – with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.

Directed by James Gunn, the live-action "Guardians of the Galaxy" will take fans to new corners of the Marvel Universe when it hits theaters August 1, 2014.

Seven New Posters for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Seven brand new character posters for Peter Jackson's “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” have been launched by Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and MGM Pictures. The one-sheet artworks individually showcase the characters Bard (Luke Evans), Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), Thorin (Richard Armitage) and Thranduil (Lee Pace).

From Academy Award®-winning filmmakerm Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all—a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself—the Dragon Smaug.

Luke Evans as BARD

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

Orlando Bloom as Legolas

Evangeline Lily as Tauriel

Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield

Lee Pace as Thranduil

A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures on Dec. 11, 2013.

New Banners for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Check out the three new banners for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug featuring our new favorite hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thranduil and Bard.

Here's the full look at the Bilbo Baggins banner:



Then here's Lee Pace as Thranduil (Legolas' daddy)



I wonder if we get to see him riding that reindeer like a fucking bad ass again. That scene totally made the whole deer zord thing look like a welp.

Oh and by jove Luke Evans, the bad guy in Fast and Furious 7 and No One Lives is Bard.



Do watch out for the new trailer which will be released tomorrow or probably this afternoon. Oh and I also hear that Benedict Cumberbatch will be lending his voice as the dragon Smaug in this picture, teaming up once again with his Sherlock co-star Freeman. 

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG is directed by Peter Jackson and will be distributed locally by Warner Bros. Pictures in cooperation with New Line Cinema.

Marvel Studios Starts Production on "Guardians of the Galaxy"

Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” Commences Principal Photography in the UK in Preparation for August 1, 2014 Film Release

BURBANK, CALIF. (July22,2013) – “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the next epic adventure from Marvel Studios has started shooting at the UK’s Shepperton Studios. Directed by James Gunn (“Slither,”“Super”) from his screenplay, with a story by Nicole Perlman and Gunn, the film will introduce audiences to a whole new side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The all-star cast includes Chris Pratt (“Zero Dark Thirty”, “Moneyball”) as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana (“Star Trek Into Darkness”, “Avatar”) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (“Riddick”) as Drax the Destroyer, Lee Pace (“The Hobbit,”“Lincoln”) as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker (AMC’s “The Walking Dead”) as Yondu, Karen Gillan (BBC TV’s “Doctor Who”) as Nebula, two-time Academy Award® nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Amistad”, “Gladiator”) as Korath, with Academy Award® winner Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”) as The Collector, Academy Award® nominee John C. Reilly (“Chicago”) as Rhomann Dey, and six-time Academy Award® nominee Glenn Close (“Albert Nobbs,” “Fatal Attraction”) as Nova Prime.

Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” is slated for an August 1, 2014 release in the U.S.

Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham, Alan Fine and Stan Lee; the co-producer is Nik Korda.

The creative team includes director of photography Ben Davis, BSC (“Wrath of the Titans”, “Kick-Ass”), production designer Charles Wood (“Thor: The Dark World”), BAFTA-nominated Editor Fred Raskin (“Django Unchained,” “Fast Five”) and Academy Award®-winning editor Hughes Winborne, A.C.E. (“The Help,”“Crash”), and Academy Award® winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Elizabeth The Golden Age”). The film will also shoot at Longcross Studios, and locations in and around London.

Marvel Studios’ last two releases were “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “Iron Man 3,” which are the #3 and #5 highest grossing films of all time and the two highest-grossing films ever released by the Walt Disney Company. The two films are the #1 and #2 all-time domestic 3-day weekend box office record holders at $207.4 million and $174.1 million respectively. The studio’s upcoming release schedule includes “Thor: The Dark World” on October 30, 2013, and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4, 2014.

Guardians of the Galaxy Roles for Del Torro, Pace and Gillian Revealed

Den of Geeks is fighting the currents with their daring confirmation for the roles of three stars attached to Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy" namely Benicio Del Toro, Lee Pace and Karen Gillian.

The long retracted/ redacted role of the Collector (Taneleer Tivan) is given to Benicio Del Toro and if you look at the photo below, you'd see why this is a perfect fit.

If that's not a perfect fit then I don't know what is. My only concern is that Del Toro has this slurred speech. It's not an impediment but it does ruin some great dialogue (assuming we get good lines from this villain).

Here's a bit of info about the character from Wikipedia: "Taneleer Tivan is one of the Elders of the Universe and is close to his fellow Elder En Dwi Gast (the Grandmaster). He apparently came to self-awareness billions of years ago, on the planet Cygnus X-1. He is an enormously powerful being who wielded the Power Primordial and, though at first he took the appearance of an old human, his true form is a powerful alien."

Former Dr. Who star Karen Gillian's role has also been revealed as being the alleged granddaughter of Thanos, the intergalactic terrorist Nebula.

Here's her stat card from way back when Marvel still pushed trading cards...

This of course debunks the previous rumor I posted about the redheaded beauty being cast as Angela. Which kinda sucks because with her auburn locks, she could've been perfect as the angelic Spawn-hunter.

My favorite 'confirmation' however happens to be what actor Lee Pace will be playing. According to the news that Den of Geeks broke, the former star of "Pushing Daisies" will be playing the role of Kree accuser and frequent Fantastic Four foe Ronan the Accuser.

OK, I'm not 100% sure about how he's going to bulk up considering that Ronan is a pretty physical character but I do know that Pace has the acting skills needed to deliver meatier, statesmanly lines. You see Ronan's not just an alien brawler with a big-ass hammer, he's also what we could see as a judge in Kree society. He needs to be eloquent when he talks and I can see why Marvel Studios picked Pace for the role. For all we know this appearance of the Accuser will be all talk. One thing though, the character in the 616 Universe has faced off against both Gamorra (Zoe Saldana) and Drax the Destroyer (Batista) so it's highly unlikely that he'll be given a 'desk job'.

This confirmation might have some meat and truth to it, but until Marvel confirms this, I'm taking it with a grain of salt. We don't have to wait that long though since SDCC 2013 is around the corner, the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) might have a surprise treat for us.

Doctor Who's Karen Gillian Joins Guardians of the Galaxy Cast

In a bizarre crossover between Doctor Who and Marvel Studios, Karen Gillian joins the cast of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Gilliam is likely to join the bad guys which is already quickly filling up with actors like Lee Pace and Michael Rooker.