‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ First Reactions Range From the ‘Best Marvel Movie in Years’ to ‘Strangely Uneven’

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Timothée Chalamet is playing the world’s most famous chocolatier in Warner Bros.’ upcoming musical “Wonka,” but it wasn’t necessarily the Roald Dahl source material that sparked his interest in joining the project. The Oscar nominee told Vogue magazine that he was drawn to playing Willy Wonka for the simple reason of making a movie for a younger, more optimistic demographic of moviegoers. “To work on something that will have an uncynical young audience, that was just a big joy,” Chalamet said. “That’s why I was drawn to it. In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there’s so much bad news all the time, this is hopefully going to be a piece of chocolate.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The “Fast and Furious” franchise might not be ending as quickly as fans previously thought. The upcoming “Fast X” is being billed by Universal Pictures as the beginning of the end of saga, which kicked off in 2001. The plan has long been to split the finale into two films, “Fast X” and the upcoming 11th installment, but franchise mastermind Vin Diesel let it slip at the “Fast X” world premiere in Rome that the finale might actually be spread across three films instead, which means a surprise 12th “Fast and Furious” movie might be on the way. Variety has reached out to Universal Pictures for comment. “Going into making this movie, the studio asked if this could be a two-parter,” Diesel said. “And after the studio saw this one, they said, ‘Could you make “Fast X” the finale, a trilogy?'”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Elle Fanning has some experience starring in a major studio franchise thanks to her role as Aurora in Disney’s two “Maleficent” movies, but the 25-year-old star has yet to join franchise behemoths like “Star Wars” and Marvel. During a recent interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Fanning was asked if there is pressure on her career to join big studio franchises in order to stay “relevant” as an actor. “I don’t feel that [pressure]. I don’t,” Fanning said, while also acknowledging that joining the likes of Marvel, “Star Wars” or DC “does something” for other actors’ careers. “But you also don’t know if they’re going to work sometimes, which is scary,” she added.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Charlize Theron participated in the recent “Drag Isn’t Dangerous” telethon and sent a stern message to conservative lawmakers seeking to ban drag queens from performing: “We love you queens. We’re in your corner and we’ve got you, and I will fuck anybody up who’s trying to fuck with anything with you guys.” “There are so many things that are hurting and, really, killing our kids, and we all know what I’m talking about right now and it ain’t no drag queen,” Theron said in a video. “If you’ve ever seen a drag queen lip-sync for her life, it only makes you happier, it only make you love more, it makes you a better person,” “Please support all the great organizations that are out there helping all of this nonsense go away like it should,” the Oscar winner added. “All of these incredibly stupid policies. Bye! No more room for hate, only love, and love equals drag queens!”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dolph Lundgren revealed on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” that he nearly punched Sylvester Stallone during the making of their 2010 ensemble action movie “The Expendables.” Stallone helmed the film himself, marking the second time he directed Lundgren in a movie after 1985’s “Rocky IV.” “We had some good times and bad times, kinda like family to some degree,” Lundgren said about his long-standing working relationship with Stallone. “He was very harsh on me in a scene in ‘The Expendables’ where he kinda yelled at me in front of the whole crew and had me do about 20 takes on a scene. It was like, ‘My grandmother could do it better than that. What the fuck, what are you doing?’ You know, basically in front of everybody. And there was press there that day too, international press.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Will Poulter revealed in a recent GQ magazine interview that he was mistaken for the “Toy Story” villain Sid by a moviegoer during a recent trip to Los Angeles. The actor, who recently joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Adam Warlock in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” spoke out against often being reduced to his physical attributes by the media and by fans. Poulter’s transition from goofy “We’re the Millers” teens to Marvel heartthrob has gotten plenty of media attention over the last few years. “A guy at a urinal in LA last week turned to me and said, ‘You’re in “Toy Story,” right?’ And I was like, ‘Well, that was animated,'” Poulter said. “I don’t want to be rude. I also appreciate there’s a meme going round of me—I dressed up as Sid from ‘Toy Story’ for anti-bullying week. So arguably I haven’t helped my case. But [‘Toy Story’ came out in] 1995. I was two. And they weren’t doing it through live action.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director As James Gunn’s final Marvel movie opens in theaters and his DC Studios future begins, he’s shutting down any notion about the two superhero studios hating each other. Gunn has had a foot in both studios for quite some time. His Marvel run lasted 11 years and three “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, while he made his DC debut with 2021’s “The Suicide Squad” and is now the co-head of DC Studios, where he’s writing and directing a new Superman movie. “It’s not odd. It isn’t odd at all, not to me,” Gunn stressed to Yahoo Entertainment when asked what it’s been like juggling “Guardians Vol. 3” press with his new DC Studios duties. “I understand how it appears, but I’m just busy cause I’m working two jobs at one time. But it’s not odd.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Anthony and Joe Russo conquered the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the record-breaking blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” (their fourth Marvel movie after “Captain America: The Winter Solider,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War”), and it turns out the “Star Wars” franchise could’ve been next. During an appearance on the “Smartless” podcast (via Total Film magazine), Joe Russo confirmed that the brothers had early talks about signing on for Marvel president Kevin Feige’s “Star Wars” movie. The project has since been shelved. “We love ‘Star Wars,'” Joe Russo said. “Kevin Feige is a huge ‘Star Wars’ fan, and there were some early conversations about maybe teaming up with Kevin to do ‘Star Wars.'”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Marvel scripts are always top secret, but “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Pom Klementieff almost took things to a new level by burying her “Vol. 3” script in co-star Karen Gillan’s garden. Klementieff joined the Marvel franchise as Mantis in “Vol 2.” After James Gunn was initially fired as the director of “Guardians Vol. 3” because of controversial jokes he made on Twitter in the past, the two actors got together privately to read Gunn’s script. “I came over to Karen’s house and it was at a time where James Gunn was not supposed to do the movie anymore,” Klementieff told IndieWire. “So we decided to read the script together and we cried the whole time.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Billie Lourd has issued a statement confirming and explaining why she did not invite her late mother Carrie Fisher’s siblings — Todd, Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher — to Carrie’s upcoming Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday, May 4. Lourd’s statement came after Fisher’s siblings expressed shock over being left out of the ceremony, which is taking place on Star Wars Day to honor the late Princess Leia actor. Lourd called out her relatives for capitalizing on Carrie’s death through interviews and book deals. “I have seen the postings and press release issued by my mother’s brother and sister,” Lourd said. “I apologize to anyone reading this for feeling the need to defend myself publicly from these family members. But unfortunately, because they publicly attacked me, I have to publicly respond. The truth is I did not invite them to this ceremony. They know why.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Emilio Estevez recalled on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” that he was 14 years old when Laurence Fishburne saved him from drowning in quicksand in the Philippines. The two were in the Philippines for the production of Frances Ford Coppola’s Vietnam war epic “Apocalypse Now,” in which Fishburne had a supporting role. Estevez’s father, Martin Sheen, had a starring role in the film as U.S. Army Captain Benjamin Willard. “He says, ‘Hey there’s this little boat, let’s go out on it.’ I said, ‘Sure.’ We were both 14 at the time,” Estevez said of Fishburne. “So we were out on this boat together, and we started getting too close to the shore and I said, ‘Well, let me jump out, I’ll push us offshore. I jumped out, and it was like quicksand mud.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jamie Foxx released his first public statement since being hospitalized over three weeks ago after suffering a medical emergency. In a photo posted to his Instagram page, the Oscar winner addressed fans and wrote: “Appreciate all the love. Feeling blessed.” Foxx boasts 16.2 million followers on the social media platform. In addition to the Instagram feed post, Foxx also posted an Instagram story in which he thanked Nick Cannon for taking over the Fox game show “Beat Shazam” as a guest host. The sixth season of the game show is now in production. Foxx launched “Beat Shazam” as host and executive producer in 2017. The actor’s daughter, Corinne, is a DJ on the show, but she’s being temporarily replaced by Kelly Osbourne as Foxx continues his recovery.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director As Warner Bros. gears up to release “The Flash” in theaters this summer, many moviegoers are wondering how star Ezra Miller’s history of legal troubles and alleged abuse might impact the release and press tour. The film’s production designer, Oscar winner Paul Austerberry (“The Shape of Water”) isn’t sweating it. During a recent interview with CBC, Austerberry said “people will forget” Miller’s history when the film releases. As reported by the CBC: “Austerberry says he’s not too concerned about how the stories surrounding Miller will affect the film. ‘People will forget that,’ he said, noting that Miller did a superb job playing the titular hero as two distinct characters, which required production to shoot the film in ‘two different chunks,’ with Ezra switching roles every few days.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director With the release of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” comes the end of James Gunn’s tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The filmmaker is exiting the MCU after directing three “Guardians” movies and is moving on to his new full-time job as the co-head of DC Studios, where he’s building a new DC Universe across film, television and video games that includes a Superman movie he’s writing and directing. Gunn’s “Guardians” cast members Zoe Saldaña and Dave Bautista have already gone on record saying they’re exiting Marvel along with Gunn following the release of “Guardians Vol. 3.” Chris Pratt, who has headlined the “Guardians” franchise as Star Lord, is a different story. Speaking to Total Film magazine, Pratt said he would continue to play the character as long as Marvel honors what Gunn started.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Guardians of the Galaxy” writer-director James Gunn revealed in a recent interview with ComicBook.com that Zoe Saldana’s Gamora was nearly killed off in 2017’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” about a year before the character met her demise in “Avengers: Infinity War.” According to Gunn, it was Marvel executives that talked him out of the decision. “Gamora almost died in ‘Vol. 2,'” Gunn said. “I knew from the beginning Zoe only wanted to play the character for so many years, and she’s been very honest saying that she’s done [after this]. And so I was going to have her die. I thought she was the one that was going to sacrifice herself…I was kind of talked out of it by Kevin [Feige] and Lou [D’Esposito], and then it just didn’t work that well. It didn’t feel right, it felt much more right to go where we go in that movie. That seemed what was correct for the story.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Austin Butler is bald and terrifying in the first look at the villainous Feyd-Rautha from Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.” Butler, a recent Oscar nominee for his performance as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” is one of the high profile new additions to the “Dune” cast along with Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken. Feyd-Rautha was previously played by Sting in David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation. Feyd-Rautha is the evil nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and the brother of the sadistic Glossu Rabban, played by Dave Bautista in Villeneuve’s film franchise. The two brothers are in competition to become the Harkonnen family’s successor on the planet Arrakis.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Chris Pratt revealed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that he swore off auditioning for Marvel movies after he lost out on roles in “Thor” and more superhero films. The actor would go on to headline Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise. “I auditioned for them all. I had a rough run with Marvel,” Pratt said. “I auditioned for ‘Thor,’ but not even to be Thor — but to be one of the sidekick guys, and I didn’t get a callback. Usually they give you a little bit of feedback, and I remember the casting director goes, ‘Wow. You really made a big choice there.’ Which is code for like: ‘Hey, dial back the acting there, guy.'” “It got to the point where I was never gonna audition for Marvel again,” Pratt continued. “I was like, ‘This is stupid, I’m never gonna be in a Marvel movie.'”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Harrison Ford is returning to the “Indiana Jones” franchise in the upcoming “Dial of Destiny,” marking a return to the character he’s now played for 42 years. It’s been 44 years since Sigourney Weaver first played Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s “Alien,” but don’t expect her to pull a Ford/”Dial of Destiny” and return to the role that made her an action movie icon. In a new interview with Total Film magazine, Ripley said her days as Ripley are over. “There are all kinds of younger actors taking this kind of role,” Weaver said. “And there was an ‘Alien’ [film] that I really wanted to do with Neill Blomkamp and we didn’t get to do that, but, you know, that ship has sailed. I’m very happy doing what I’m doing. I put in my time in space!”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steven Spielberg has seen “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the fifth installment in the long-running adventure franchise and, notably, the first entry not to be directed by Spielberg himself. “The Wolverine” and “Ford v Ferrari” director James Mangold took over filmmaking duties on “Dial of Destiny.” Anyone worried a Spielberg-less “Indiana Jones” movie might not deliver the goods can now rest easy, as Spielberg himself loved the latest sequel. “I just had that experience two nights ago,” Spielberg said at the Time 100 Summit when asked what it’s like watching an “Indiana Jones” movie he didn’t direct. “Bob Iger had a screening for a lot of the Disney executives and I came to the screening along with the director James Mangold. Everybody loved the movie. It’s really, really a good Indiana Jones film. I’m really proud of what Jim has done with it.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Stand-up comedian and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Richard Lewis revealed in a video posted to Twitter that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The comedian said he’s had “sort of a rocky time” over the past three years with his health. In addition to Parkinson’s disease, Lewis had several surgeries on his shoulder, back and hip. For these reasons, Lewis is strictly focusing on “writing and acting” these days and is no longer performing stand-up. “Hey listen, I just wrapped a couple of weeks ago season 12 of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and it was just an amazing season and I’m so grateful to be a part of that show,” Lewis said. “But you know the last three and a half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time and people said, ‘I haven’t heard from you, are you still touring?'”