James Gunn Talks About Chris Pratt’s Infamous Guardians Wrap Speech

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn shares details on the wrap speech Chris Pratt gave the cast and crew. It was an understandably emotional time when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 completed filming, considering Gunn is heading off to help co-lead DC Studios with Peter Safran. Gunn helped raise the profile of the Guardians of the Galaxy, turning the mostly-unknown heroes into household names alongside the Avengers. Chris Pratt can also thank Gunn for turning him into an action star, after his supporting role in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. For now, fans can hear from Gunn himself on Chris Pratt’s emotional speech.

James Gunn was a guest on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, where they discussed a wide range of topics, including Guardians of the Galaxy, Superman: Legacy, and much more. This is where Gunn gave his memory of Chris Pratt’s wrap speech. “You know, Chris Pratt gave a speech as we were wrapping up the third movie,” James Gunn told Michael Rosenbaum. “He gave this beautiful speech and he was crying… I didn’t cry… I didn’t cry, he was crying profusely. So he was very much crying like a baby and it was a little embarrassing, and how much it went on.” Of course, Gunn was only teasing Pratt for shedding some tears, but it had to do with how all the naysayers doubted the first Guardians of the Galaxy film would be a success at the time.

“In the speech, he went back and looked up all the articles that were written about the Guardians before the movie came out, and he’s quoting how ‘This is going to be Marvel’s first bomb,’” Gunn continued. “It was all this stuff about nobody caring about these characters.” Gunn later admitted he got a little teary-eyed over Pratt’s speech.

James Gunn Teases Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Home Release

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has earned over $780 million at the global box office so far, almost $10 million more than the first Guardians of the Galaxy earned during its entire theatrical run. As such, the filmmaker said in a post to the social media network Bluesky, there is no definite timeline for a home entertainment release yet. The movie opened at $118 million domestically and has continued to perform well in spite of a competitive May and early June release schedule that has included Fast X and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. With over half its money coming from the international market, the movie has already passed recent Marvel releases like Thor: Love and Thunder ($760 million lifetime gross) and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania ($463 million).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has a chance of becoming the franchise’s highest-grossing installment, currently lagging behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 by about $80 million. Guardians of the Galaxy earned $773 million in its 2014 theatrical run.

“There is not,” Gunn told a fan when asked if he could reveal a VOD (video-on-demand) release date timetable. “We’ve been doing so well in theaters week after week it might be a little bit.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now in theaters nationwide.

Photo credit via Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney