Chris Pratt is a name. Parks and Rec is a pretty popular show and he was one of the best things about Zero Dark Thirty.
The idea that there are “no names” in this movie is bizarre.
Names has a very specific meaning in Hollywood: people who are the stars of movies and whose mere presence can be the difference between a large opening weekend and a mediocre one and who can sell piles of DVDs. No guarantees, of course: everybody has bombs on their records.
Scarlett Johansson is a name: she just opened Lucy to staggering numbers for a movie with weak reviews and worse word of mouth. Dwayne Johnson is a name; he just opened Hercules to 50% more than was predicted.
None of the stars in GotG are names in that sense. They’re familiar, they’ve been in a lot of movies, they can go out on the talk show circuit. But they’re not “names.”
Yep, “names” are dudes who can fill seats on their own. Sure the stars of Guardians" are hardly unknowns, but they’re not “names”. Tom Hanks= name.
Dwayne Johnson may never win a Oscar but he’s the top grossing actor from 2013.
Actually, it might be argued that Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel are “names”. (Hangover; Riddick/F&F). But most people will not realize they’re in it unless they’re really paying attention. And “names” almost never count when it’s just voice work. Their draw rarely extends that far.
Yeah, the OP is being about $50M too optimistic, though if August is slow enough, GotG may have little to compete with for the rest of the month, helping its long-term word-of-mouth prospects.
But don’t you agree that there are different levels of names? Chris Pratt has been in a variety of projects where he has built up a lot of good will and people like him quite a bit. He’s not Downey (he’s not even pre-Iron Man Downey), but he does have a bit of a name for himself that is helping GOTG’s buzz.
And to use your Lucy example, the narrative from box office watchers said the same thing about her pre Lucy. She wasn’t considered a big enough name to open a movie all by her lonesome. Clearly, they were wrong. And they’re idiots.
Well, that’s a little deceptive given that he was in multiple films, the best-performing of which was an ensemble.
And an ensemble in which he was third-billed actor, at that. The F&F franchise is primarily driven (:D) by Vin Diesel.
But . . . but I’m hooked on the feeling.
Blasphemy! The Rocket looks awesome.
I have no opinion on how many dollars it will pull in it’s first weekend, but I’ve been wanting to watch it since the first trailer came out. That is not based on names. That is not based on familiarity with the comics (although I do know who Gamora is). That is based totally on the trailer.
I don’t know. If most people are like me they know Chris Pratt as that guy from Parks N Rec and, oh yeah, did the voice of Emmet in the Lego Movie.
Other than that I couldn’t tell you anything else he’s ever done.
I think it’s the right movie at the right time. I can almost hear the click of fate bringing it all together.
Oh, man, isn’t everybody in Hollywood all the time? Who’s a “name” is a game that people play more than anything rational. All I can say is that boxofficemojo doesn’t even have a page for Chris Pratt to be able to check out his grosses. Scarlett Johansson does. And she’s being deified as a modern movie star because of her twin paths in billion-grossing action roles and Oscar bait roles. And because she looks like one.
Action pictures are strange because they have ensemble casts and work off the number of explosions rather than actors. Yes, Robert Downey Jr. remade his career from an action picture. How many others can you say that of? Johnny Depp, maybe. Quick. Who played the last two Supermen and Spider-Men?
Of the Guardians cast, who is the biggest star? I’d say Vin Diesel. He can open action pictures. But he’s playing a tree. People go to see Vin Diesel’s muscles, not his bark. Bradley Cooper is a voice. Zoe Saldana shows a lot of human skin, but is buried under green makeup. Chris Pratt is playing out of character. How many people are going to see them as people? They’ll be going to see an action movie. And we’ve had a lot of experience seeing where movies of this particular type open. I just don’t see the cast making an appreciable difference and certainly not $50 million of a difference.
I only knew him as that guy from Everwood 
The time has come. Will post feedback in a few hours.
Damn, it feels like Christmas
I have seen it and will post neither spoilers nor comments on the film of any kind other than to say this -
For the love of all that is Holy - you MUST stay through the end of the credits.
You must.
That is all.
Damn, I was looking for reviews and someone spoiled the end-credit surprise for me already. I hate that.
I couldn’t help myself so I had to go find the end credit stuff. I like it.
Saw it the other night and loved it.
Unfortunately the press/promo screenings didn’t have the post-credit stinger attached.
Just back. Great film, entertaining from start to finish. Funny throughout, some great action and surprisingly touching in places.
Can’t decide in a single viewing if it’s the best Marvel film to date or not, but it’s certainly up there
BoxOfficeGuru predicts $72 million.
BoxOfficeMojo goes all the way up to $82 million.