Marvel Studios has begun the major promotional push for their next upcoming release, director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - the sequel to his 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe entry Guardians of the Galaxy. However, the superhero sequel isn't the filmmaker's first movie to debut in theaters this year. The Belko Experiment, which Gunn wrote and co-produced, is set to hit the big screen in a week. Said to be "Office Space meets Battle Royale," the action/horror film follows a group of employees at the titular Belko company trapped in an office building and forced to kill each other.
Since the first teaser trailer for The Belko Experiment, the movie's promotional material has highlighted its premise and the characters, while the red band trailer offered a great deal of insight into the horror elements viewers can expect. Now, new character posters for The Belko Experiment bring further attention to the movie's key players and all the gore audiences will see when it hits theaters.
Gunn himself debuted one of the character posters on Twitter, that of Belko COO Barry Norris (Tony Goldwyn), while Bloody Disgusting compiled the other four: Belko head of maintenance Bud Melks (Michael Rooker), Mike Melch (John Gallagher Jr.), executive Wendell Dukes (John C. McKinley), and Norris’ assistant Leandra Jerez (Adria Arjona). Take a look in the gallery below:
[vn_gallery name="The Belko Experiment Character Posters" id="921352"]
In addition to featuring Gunn's friend Rooker, The Belko Experiment costars Stephen Blackehart and the filmmaker's brother Sean Gunn - all of whom have worked with the filmmaker previously on both Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Joining these cast members are Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), Josh Brener (Silicon Valley), David Del Rio (Pitch Perfect), and David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man) among others. The Belko Experiment was directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) and it first debuted at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.
Of course, The Belko Experiment is going up against some tough box office competition next weekend with Disney's Beauty and the Beast also debuting. Certainly, The Belko Experiment will be infused with Gunn's irreverent humor - which is additionally on display in these character posters thanks to taglines like "Casualty Friday" and "Meetings Can Be Murder." That said, the film has so far received mixed reviews and, as a result, it remains to be seen how well it will do with moviegoers.
Still, considering Gunn's involvement and the fact that it offers some action/horror counterprogramming to the weekend's other releases, The Belko Experiment could prove to be a surprising success. At least, for those eagerly awaiting Gunn's next project, there's only a week left until The Belko Experiment hits theaters.
Next: The Belko Experiment Trailer #3
Source: James Gunn, Bloody Disgusting
