The final countdown is until The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ignites the world.
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth return as Katniss, Peeta and Gale in the love triangle set in a future under a despotic regime.
Katniss and Peeta must compete in a new death duel with other former champions. Continue reading Before THE HUNGER GAMES CATCHING FIRE with Josh Hutcherson
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens this week. Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as Katniss Everdeen, who is forced to compete in deadly new games of former champions (including Josh Hutcherson back at Peeta.)
Before global success of The Hunger Games, before winning an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, Lawrence and her leading men (Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth) came to Seattle on The Hunger Games Tour. I remember young fans erupting into a frenzy like tributes arriving in the Capitol.
I wanted to share part of that interview again. Most of the young fans were on Team Gale or Team Peeta. I asked Lawrence about the relationship between Katniss and Cinna, the stylist who becomes her mentor. While filming X-Men: First Class Lawrence (who played Raven/Mystique) became friends with co-star Zoe Kravitz (who played Angel) and developed a friendship with her dad, rock star Lenny Kravitz. She explained that helped their on-screen rapport:
Kravitz returns as Cinna to prepare Katniss and Peeta for the Hunger Games Quarter Quell as the new District 12 champions must fight for their lives again against former winners.
Lawrence reprises her role as Mystique in X-Men: Days of Future Past coming in May, 2014.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens Friday. The third book in Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy, Mockingjay, will be split into two final films.
By Editor
Who will play the mastermind behind the games of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire? Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been offered the role of Plutarch Heavensbee according to The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision.
Rumors are still swirling about the actor who will play Finnick Odair, another new character joining the film directed by Francis Lawrence.
By Editor
A big congratulations to Liam Hemsworth on getting engaged to Miley Cyrus. If you’re a Hunger Games fan you’re excited to see more of him as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
In honor of his engagement here’s a flashback to my brief interview with him at The Hunger Games Tour Seattle in which we talked about working with Woody Harrelson:
Congrats. Shouldn’t this guy play Green Arrow if the ever make a Justice League movie?
By Editor
The race to play a key character in the next The Hunger Games movie is heating up with a Marvel super hero in the running. Taylor Kitsch (Gambit, John Carter) Armie Hammer (The Lone Ranger, The Social Network) and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy) are in the running for the role of Finnick Odair in Catching Fire according to E Online.
In the novels Odair is a champion from District 4 (I think is the Pacific Northwest) who won the Hunger Games when he was 14. The 24-year-old is famous for fighting with his trident and net – a symbol of his district and wearing very little in the arena. Odair has many lovers in the Capitol.
An earlier rumor surfaced that Robert Pattison (Twilight) was up for the role but it was denied.
Kitsch would be a great fit for the role but I’m going for my earlier pick: Ryan Kwanten of True Blood.
By Editor
Thanks to Dark Horizons.
$500+ million global and growing! The Hunger Games will go back on more than 100 IMAX screens from April 27th to May 3rd according to Deadline. Lionsgate chose Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Constantine, Like Water for Elephants) to direct the sequel Catching Fire.
What do you think of the choice? Given the spectacular visuals of I Am Legend I’m exited to see how Lawrence will stage the Panem uprising. I really hope Gale is developed more. I don’t want to be too specific and spoil but there’s a favorite scene from Catching Fire that’s the really heartbreaking with Cinna that I hope gets the proper direction it deserves.
A Geek Gives Thanks: I want to take a moment again to thank all the thousands of fans who watched my interviews with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth when The Hunger Games Tour came to Seattle. I appreciate all the support, comments and I wish I had more of Josh sound bites for you! By Editor
Two big studios. Two big franchises. One hot star. There appears to be a compromise that keeps fans of the X-Men and The Hunger Games happy!
The X-Men First Class sequel will start shooting in January. That means Lionsgate can shoot Catching Fire in August/September without a conflict for Jennifer Lawrence according to The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision. The in-demand actress plays Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, and Raven/Mystique in X-Men: First Class.
The next step for Catching Fire is lining up a director. The Hunger Games director and co-writer Gary Ross does not have a deal for the sequel.
For the entire story’s the Heat Vision link.
by Editor
Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Full Monty, 127 Hours) is writing the sequel to The Hunger Games. Beaufoy is fine tuning the script for Catching Fire. He tells 24 frames he’s charmed by the trilogy’s author, Suzanne Collins, and her knowledge for warfare.
“She’s fascinating,” said Beaufoy. “Her dad was a military expert, historian and lecturer and used to be in the forces. It’s fascinating hearing her talk about the thesis for the three novels: The first is about survival, the second is rebellion and the third is about all-out war. She’s very compelling about all of that.”
I agree with his point that gender doesn’t matter in the series which centers on a heroine (played by Jennifer Lawrence of X-Men: First Class.)
“What I really love about the books is it isn’t even up for discussion that she’s a girl,” Beaufoy said. “There’s no discussion that she shouldn’t be killing people because she’s a girl, and she shouldn’t be killed because she’s a girl. We’ve done gender politics. This is about life and death. It makes the gender politics seem finicky and not terribly interesting.”
For the entire interview click here.
The Hunger Games cast tour concludes in Seattle this weekend. I will be there.