Guardians Of The Galaxy Premiere

After the disappointment of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Premiere earlier this month, I thought that now might be a good time to reflect on the Guardians Of The Galaxy Premiere, especially as I just got around to publishing my thoughts on the movie.

The premiere was held on 24th July. Two days before my 33rd Birthday. It was a beautiful sunny day, very different from the wet and cold November day for the recent Hunger Games premiere.

My photographer friend and I sat in Leicester Square with our usual premiere picnic and Ice Cream, and I got to open my presents from him a whole two days early. One of which was the Lego Hawkeye below. 

We were moved into the holding pens outside the Empire and waited patiently for the stars to arrive. We then heard the surprise news that two Avengers were also coming to the premiere, at which point I became ridiculously nervous thinking I might finally see Jeremy Renner and have nothing for him to sign. 

I had nothing to worry about as the two "Avengers" were actually one Avenger, Chris Hemsworth, and the director Joss Whedon. I would have loved to get something signed by Joss as I have long been a huge fan of his, but regrettably he spent little time with the crowd owing to the fact that he was recovering from knee surgery. I am still hopeful that one day I will get my chance to shake his hand or get his signature. Which was something I did manage to get from Mr Hemsworth for the second time. What can I say, he clearly just likes me. 

 

Next to arrive was another unexpected guest, Mark Hamill. Sadly, as neither myself or my friend knew he was due to make an appearance, neither of us had anything even remotely Star Wars related to get signed, so we had to make do with a photo of the legendary actor instead.

Before we knew it the stars of the movie had all started to arrive, and with only Bradley Cooper missing from the main cast of heroes, I had a pretty good shot at getting a good haul of signatures. Sadly, the only villain in attendance was former Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan, who despite my many attempts, just would not sign for me. 

My subscriber edition of Empire Magazine had only the villains on the cover, so from that point on I knew I wasn't going to be able to get anything for myself and made it my mission to get as many signatures for my buddy as possible.

 

Director James Gunn with host Alex Zane. 

Former Wrestler Dave Bautista, who at one point, the crowd was just chanting DAVE BAU-TISTA, DAVE BAU-TISTA at. Whenever I think of Drax I just hear that chant over and over again. 

 The very beautiful Zoe Saldana. Looking a lot less green here than in the movie.  

The man of the hour, Chris Pratt in his very tight trousers (I think my knack for spotting the men in tight pants is the thing I bring to premieres, in the same way that my photographer friend always manages to get a photo of an actress' behind).

 

Just when you thought things couldn't get more amazing, Vin Diesel showed up on stilts wearing an 'I AM GROOT' t'shirt!

Just before they all got back in their cars to leave, Chris Pratt took a moment to thank us all for being there. With all the camera crews packed up it was a genuine moment of thanks for us fans who had been standing out in the hot sun all afternoon. In all the premieres I've been to, I've never known an actor to do that and I hope it's something Chris continues to be grateful for as it was a lovely moment to witness. 

My only regret is that I didn't take my Star Trek: Into Darkness edition of Empire magazine as I probably could have gotten Zoe Saldana's signature for myself, rather than just for my friend, but I was still proud of the signatures I managed to get that day, even if they weren't for me.

All in all, a lovely day out, an impressive array of signatures and another round of cracking photos by Blair Holmes. Please do not use his photos without permission. Thanks for reading, and lets all hope the next premiere is more like this one than Hunger Games.