2014 Movie Preview: #8 - Guardians of the Galaxy

Release date: August 1

Plot summary:
My take: This may be the biggest gamble of the year, at least of the movies I am previewing on this list. Marvel has certainly shown that they can take commodities that were not well known to the public at large and turn them into successful film franchises, but a movie based on a group of space travelers that includes a tree-like character and a talking raccoon may be a bit out there for the mainstream audience. Hopefully that isn't the case, because Marvel has already laid the groundwork through some of their other films to make this a pretty awesome extension of their film empire. The cast is excellent here so my expectations are pretty high for this one.

Running on Diesel power

From JustJared.com:

Vin Diesel has officially landed the voice role of Groot in the upcoming Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy!

The 46-year-old actor confirmed the news by posting the image of himself and the detailed character bust on his Facebook page. Director James Gunn also tweeted the news, saying he “is a super awesome dude. I can’t tell you how much I like this guy.”

Guardians of the Galaxy follows an unlikely cast of characters including Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Diesel), and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) who must join forces to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions.