“Guardians of the Galaxy 2” comes out this weekend, and I’m very excited for it. Adaptations are really tough, especially writing one with so many talented people attached. When there are only 2 hours to cram action, drama, laughs, and more action into a film… it’s needless to say it’s very difficult to juggle all these things in a script properly. James Gunn created an adaptation for Marvel at the height of it’s success, and at that time everyone had their sights set on this movie. Nobody knew what would happen after “The Avengers,” and this was the catalyst for phase 2 of Marvel’s films.  It would have been very easy to fail at this point, because there is so much that can go wrong with a big film, but he pushed Marvel into their new territory with a BANG.

James Gunn is a bit graphic in the beginning of this interview, but he gives great advice for new writers or people trying to get established in the film industry. He tells the story about how he started and got all the way to making one of the biggest movie theater hits, “Guardians of the Galaxy.” He’s known for having written big adaptations like “Scooby Doo,” “Dawn of the Dead,” and most recently “The Belko Experiment” (written over 10 years ago).

Who should you have read a screenplay you’ve written? What’s the proper format for a screenplay? How much money can you make as a screenwriter? These questions and much more are answered in the interview.