James Gunn's Sunday got off to a great start when he was made aware of a compliment that Guardians of the Galaxy recently received from Steven Spielberg (Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial), one of the industry’s most successful and influential filmmakers of all-time.

"I really like Richard Donner's Superman, Nolan's Dark Knight and the first Iron Man movie, but the superhero movie that most impressed me was Guardians of the Galaxy," Spielberg told the foreign press (via omelete) at the Cannes Film Festival while doing press for BFG. "When it ended, I left the cinema with the feeling that I had just experienced something new, free of cinicism and without concern for being gritty when necessary."

And here's Gunn's reaction to the quote.

This is the greatest compliment I’ve ever received. I’m teary-eyed right now. No one has influenced @Guardians more. https://t.co/j7RXHE7lPW — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 15, 2016

That's quite the compliment, especially coming from someone that predicted superhero films will go the way of the Westerns. Maybe Spielberg will change his mind about that, as long as filmmakers like Gunn keep producing high-quality films in the genre.

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