James Gunn confirms Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will release in May 2023, exactly six years after the franchise's previous installment. While the characters were a part of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, it's been some time since they were the main focus of a new movie, making audiences more excited for their return.
Dating back to 2018, word was Guardians of the Galaxy 3 would begin filming at some point in 2021, though it was unknown specifically when that would happen. Initial reports indicated it'd be February 2021 (which obviously didn't happen), but more recently all signs pointed to the cameras rolling towards the end of this year. Fortunately for those looking for new Guardians of the Galaxy 3 updates, Gunn has now confirmed a general production timeline himself.
On Instagram, Gunn answered some fan questions and fielded one about when Guardians of the Galaxy 3 begins filming. His response was a simple "End of this year." Check out his post in the space below:
In between Guardians of the Galaxy installments, Gunn helmed The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. and DC, and that movie is planned for an August premiere. Though The Suicide Squad is now complete months ahead of its release, this schedule makes sense for Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Gunn will likely spend parts of the summer promoting The Suicide Squad, and there's still pre-production work to be done on Guardians of the Galaxy 3. While Gunn's cheekily acknowledged the returning Guardians of the Galaxy cast, there will probably be new roles to fill out over the next few months. And with Guardians of the Galaxy 3 set to be a huge undertaking, taking as much time as necessary to prepare everything will only help.
Though Guardians of the Galaxy 3's release date is about two years away, Gunn's explained why he feels like that window is cutting things close. He's looking to deliver an epic conclusion to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, complete with state-of-the-art visual effects, thrilling action sequences, and all-new alien worlds. Hopefully principal photography goes smoothly without any setbacks. While there are signs the coronavirus pandemic is improving, that's still a major issue Gunn and his team will be dealing with throughout production. Ideally, everything will stay on schedule and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will hit its release date on time.
Source: James Gunn
