Vin Diesel has the habit of jumping the gun when it comes to his movies, announcing news and uploading pictures to his Facebook page long before the studio's PR Machine has time to get up and running. The most recent case of this is his announcement that he is voicing Groot, the walking, talking tree (who only says "I am Groot", which will no doubt sound amazing delivered by Diesel's gravelly voice), in Marvel Studio's Phase Two movie Guardians of the Galaxy. While the actor has been adamant he has been cast in the role, director James Gunn and Marvel Studio's have denied that this is the case.
Well now, in the least surprsing piece of casting news ever, Diesel's involvement in the movie has been made official, with Marvel issuing a press release announcing his casting, which just so happened to coincide with Diesel posting the above picture of himself with a bust of what the character looks like in the movie. The full press release can be read below:
Vin Diesel is Groot!
The star of the Fast and the Furious and Riddick franchises will lend his voice to Groot in Marvel’s live-action “Guardians of the Galaxy,” rounding out the team that includes Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista).
Featured in four of the six movies in the fan-favorite “Fast & Furious” franchise, Diesel has helped the series gross over $2 billion at the box office; and will reprise his role in “Fast & Furious 7.” Diesel’s most recent film, “Riddick,” the third film in the franchise that has so far earned a cumulative $267.3 million across the globe, debuted this year at the top of the box office. In addition to lending his voice to several video games, Diesel’s received great acclaim for his voice work in the celebrated animated film “The Iron Giant,” directed by Brad Bird.
In the far reaches of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an unlikely cast of characters including Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket Raccoon must join forces to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions. Directed by James Gunn, the live-action “Guardians of the Galaxy” will take fans to new corners of the Marvel Universe when it hits theaters August 1, 2014, but in the meantime stay tuned to Marvel.com for the latest news as it breaks, including official casting, first looks and more!
In addition to “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4, 2014; “Avengers: Age of Ultron” on May 1, 2015; and “Ant-Man” on July 31, 2015.
