Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 filmed in Georgia

“We shot the first Guardians in England, but because Pinewood Atlanta has so much sound stage space, we were able to have the entire production base on the lot,” says James Gunn, the film’s director and co-writer.

“For Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 we needed very big sound stages because our sets are very large, even though a lot of the film is CGI (computer-generated imagery).

“I like to have as many practical sets as we can and make the environments as real as possible so it balances out the CGI elements. Pinewood Atlanta is a fantastic facility and it was a great advantage for the production to be able to house everything under one roof.”

Pinewood Atlanta Studios offers 18 separate sound stages and even with the scale of Guardians’ visual effects content the production team built several full 360-degree practical sets, rather than building the movie’s visuals entirely around green screen backdrops.

“I’ve been really impressed at how much James let us build on this one,” says Scott Chambliss, the film’s production designer.

“All of the Eclector sets (one of the story’s key spaceships) are very large, 360-degree environments. We also built the interiors of spaceships that are 360-degree full sets. I know from experience how hard it can be for an actor to do a big dramatic scene on a stage in a blue void or a green void.”

Marvel has based its superhero productions at Pinewood Atlanta Studios for the past several years. The company shot Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther at the facility last year after Guardians of the Galaxy wrapped and the studio is currently home to Avengers: Infinity War.

Doctor Strange was an exception as it was filmed from a base at Longcross Studios in south-east England, and on location in Nepal.

Georgia’s generous filming incentive support and studio facilities have turned it into one of America’s top production hubs. However, Marvel’s president Kevin Feige recently revealed that Marvel would film more in California if the state’s tax credit offered greater support for big-budget shoots.

Image: Disney/Marvel Studios