MOVIES: Well of course they are looking for Star-Lord

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled to hit theaters on August 01, 2014.  With less than two years to get the movie off the ground and on to the screen, is it really a surprise that the studios are looking for someone to play Star-Lord?

Duh… No, it isn’t a surprise. Star-Lord is the leader of the team! So why are getting all worked up over a rumored short list of actors who may or may not play the lead? This week has been ripe with actors who are “in talks” to play a variety of roles in a number of high profile movies.  What I think many people and bloggers are missing is that “in talks” means someone has asked, “hey, wanna be in our movie?”  It doesn’t mean that actor has been cast in the role, it doesn’t mean the studio and the talent agency are signing contracts, it means someone has been asked.

This afternoon I’m considering having a Big Mac for lunch.  Does that mean it is going to happen? Hell no!  For one, it’s a Big Mac – a sure fire way to block your colon and cause no end of discomfort to your tummy area.  Second, it’s a consideration-  I might be putting the crappy hamburger on my list to make the Chicago Dog, a hoagie, or *gasp* a nice salad look even better in the final analysis.  In the case of Deadline (a site that has more real inside information and makes more informed guesses than any other site I’ve seen), Mike Fleming, Jr. states that Marvel Studios is making test deals with a small group of actors.  Test deals? That means the studio has a list of people they would like to bring in to test for the role, but first the agents and the studios need to work out a deal to come in to talk…

So if actors are “in talks” why does everyone assume that means it’s set in stone?  How frustrating and disappointing is it to get all worked up over a rumor that has been reported as fact, only to learn that it isn’t true? One can certainly guess and speculate about things, we do it all the time, but we usually say, “My guess is…” or, “I believe that…” That’s part of the fun of analyzing the data and drawing conclusions based on facts and trends.  But to go crazy on a rumor and turn it into the real deal seems like a waste of time.

Of course there is a plus to rumor mongering and basing your site off nothing but unfounded rumors – it brings traffic to your site, it bumps up the numbers, and gets everyone all in a tizzy over an announcement that may or may not be fact.  It gets the comment section flowing, and then when the rumor is debunked, the comment section starts flowing again with more comments claiming they were right all along, etc.  And if those sites are right even 10% of the time, those sites suddenly turn into the go to site for all the inside information. Major Spoilers has run rumors, and we state that these are rumors, or educated guesses, but lately, I’ve been of the mind to wait for the rumor mill to die down, sort the facts out, and use some critical thinking to determine if the claims are believable or not.

Is it believable that Marvel Studios would like to have Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Jim Sturgess, Lee Pace, or Eddie Redmayne play Peter Quill?  Sure… that’s totally believable.  But because everyone is “in talks” it doesn’t mean any one of those actors will be cast.  Even Deadline is stating that it believes there are other potential actors on the list than have been let slip, yet that isn’t stopping sites from stating that one of those five actors has been confirmed for the role.  It’s like a crazy game of telephone…

By the way, did you hear that Leonard Nimoy will play Galvatron in the next Transformers movie? It’s totally true.  I have a guy on “the inside” who told me that he loved Nimoy voicing the Decepticon leader back in 1986, and when he sent Michael Bay an email telling him he should call Nimoy’s people about it, the director replied with a “Thanks!”  This means it’s totally happening! GALVATRON WOOT!