LOS ANGELES, Calif., Feb. 3, 2016 (UPI) — Chris Pratt is gearing up for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2.’
The 36-year-old actor started work on the highly-anticipated sequel with director James Gunn and co-stars Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Sean Gunn this week.
James Gunn shared a photo of the group Monday on Instagram, writing, “Using Bautista as an example of good acting during rehearsals for #GotGVol2.” Saldana added, “#weareback #GOTG #guardiansofthegalaxy” to her own post.
Saldana, who plays green-skinned ‘Gamora’ in the movies, also joked, “It’s officially ‘face and body art day’ for the next 5 months.” The actress previously revealed her full-body makeup takes an hour and 15 minutes to remove each day.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ opened in 2014 and earned $774 million at the box office. Pratt will reprise ‘Peter Quill’, aka ‘Star-Lord,’ in the sequel, with Bautista as ‘Drax’ and Sean Gunn as ‘Kraglin.’ Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper will also return as ‘Groot’ and ‘Rocket.’
“I will say that [James Gunn’s] pitch and his idea legitimately put tears in my eyes,” Pratt told Digital Spy in June. “It is so good. I cannot wait to get started on it and I cannot wait for people to see what he’s going to pull off with the second movie.”
“It’s so, so big and so good,” he added. “From what I understand, they heard it at Marvel and they said nothing. They’re like, ‘Perfect.’ There was no micromanaging of the idea, they just loved it so much and didn’t even have a note for it. It’s going to be remarkable.”
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ opens in theaters May 5, 2017. Kurt Russell is expected to join the series as Star-Lord’s dad, with Pom Klementieff in an unspecified role.