When Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 comes out, fans will apparently have another thing to look forward do: a behind-the-scenes video of three “aliens” doing the Macarena, which filmmaker James Gunn stopped everything to film during production. One of the actors, Callie Brand (who to her credit did not spill the beans she was dressed as an alien at the time), tweeted about the surreal experience on the set of the long-awaited sequel, and Gunn quote-tweeted her, promising fans that the video was something he would make available closer to the film’s release.
“Macarena,” if you don’t remember it, is a 1993 dance song performed by latin pop duo Los Del Río. It gained global notoriety in 1996 and 1997 after The Bayside Boys remixed the song in 1995, and that version took off, sparking a dance craze. The song peaked at #1 on the charts in 16 countries, including on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., where it spent 14 weeks and was named the #1 song for 1996.
You can see Gunn’s tweet below.
I see someone doing the Macarena on set in alien makeup & damn right I’m gonna pull out my phone & film it (will release video in the summer of 2023). https://t.co/2YD7CMfOw5
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 1, 2022
The song was a pop culture phenomenon, and virtually impossible to avoid in the late ’90s. A bizarre performance of it appeared as a drug-induced hallucination in the 1999 movie Go from director Doug Liman, who would go on to direct The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow.
The film was supposed to be released on May 1, 2020, but was delayed when Gunn was briefly fired from the project. By the time Disney decided they wanted him back, Gunn had already accepted the job writing and directing Warner Bros.’ The Suicide Squad (and later its TV spinoff Peacemaker for HBO Max). Reactions to the Guardians vol. 3 script, which will serve as the final outing for the current team of Guardians, have been overwhelmingly positive so far, according to its cast and producers.
At the moment, there aren’t a lot of details about what to expect from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. One new bit of information that was revealed on Monday as part of the announcement regarding production was that Peacemaker star Chukwudi Iwuji had been brought on in a role that “most every big name actor in Hollywood wanted,” though there hasn’t yet been any confirmation as to who Iwuji will be playing. Iwuji was featured in the photo Gunn shared, as was Will Poulter, who was previously announced to be joining the film’s cast as Adam Warlock.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently set to hit theaters on May 5, 2023.