With a slew of top tier Marvel titles getting the sequel treatment, the word that Guardians of the Galaxy is headed to the big screen is a bit of a surprise.

UPDATE: Release date for the movie has been announced.

Kevin Feige, producer for Marvel Studios, told Crave Online that there are a number of projects in development at the studio including Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, The Inhumans, and Guardians of the Galaxy.  Yes, that movie with a talking raccoon and a tree that says, “Groot.”

We are very excited about bringing things like that, maybe things exactly like that, to the screen. [...] When you tell people, you know what would be really cool? This movie, and there’s a raccoon, and there’s a tree… And they go, ‘What?’ And people like you know what it is, and get excited. And the majority of people go, ‘Did you say a raccoon and a tree?’ ‘Oh yeah, they’re going to steal the whole movie. They’re hilarious.’ ‘Okay, I’ll believe it when I see it.’ I like that.

I’m pretty sure that this is the first confirmed announcement of the Guardians of the Galaxy, though rumors have been floating around for a while.  And while there was a bit of a buzz surrounding a new Avengers scene being shot over the weekend, I doubt it is a teaser for this movie… though with the Ultimate Skrull appearing in the film, it may not be totally out of the question.

via Crave Online