Posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2012 by Angie Han
As the start date for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire nears, talk of casting is heating up. We’ve already seen several (disproven) rumors surrounding fan favorite character Finnick Odair, and Philip Seymour Hoffman got offered the part of Plutarch Heavensbee before speculation about that role even really got a chance to pick up steam. Today the focus is on the character Johanna Mason, another key figure who makes her first appearance in the sequel.
Director Francis Lawrence has been looking at both big names and unknowns for the part, as evidenced by the two first actresses named as possibilities for the role. According to a new report, Mia Wasikowska and model-turned-actress Zoe Aggeliki are in the mix to play Johanna. Read more after the jump.
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Posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 by Angie Han
While the first Hunger Games only announced a limited IMAX run at the last minute, sequel director Francis Lawrence is embracing the format right out of the gate. Not only is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire already planning a release on the giant screens for next fall, Lawrence is actually using IMAX cameras to shoot certain portions of the film. So while we still have no idea who’ll be playing Finnick Odair, you can bet he’ll look fantastic — and huge. More details after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 by Angie Han
Though most of the early casting rumors for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire have focused on handsome fan favorite Finnick Odair, the very first bit of reliable casting news involves a different character altogether — and, at least in my view, a much more exciting name than any we’ve heard so far for Finnick.
Various outlets are reporting that Philip Seymour Hoffman has been offered the part of Plutarch Heavensbee, a new Gamemaker who plays a pivotal role in the next installment of the series. More details after the jump.
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With any popular franchise, each subsequent sequel brings new, exciting characters and The Hunger Games is no exception. In Catching Fire, the second book in Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, Finnick Odair is the stand out. He’s a handsome, brash, outgoing and athletic former winner of the Games who finds himself tangled up with Katniss and Peeta. (I’ll leave it at that to avoid spoilers for now.)
When I spoke to The Hunger Games director Gary Ross before the release of the first film, he said he had some ideas on the casting of this wildly popular character. Now that’s Francis Lawrence‘s job. Fan-choice Robert Pattinson is out but, according to E! the short list contains three worthy names: Armie Hammer, Taylor Kitsch and Garrett Hedlund. Read more after the jump. Read More »
With a change in director, it isn’t surprising to see a new writer come on to The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire, and now Michael Arndt, who won an Oscar for scripting Little Miss Sunshine, is in talks to work on the film with director Francis Lawrence. Read More »
Setting a director to make The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire turned out to be a little more complicated for Lionsgate than was originally expected. While Gary Ross was first thought to be fully set to reprise his directorial duties after making the smash first film, he moved on to other jobs. After casting about for follow-up options, Lionsgate made an offer to I Am Legend, Constantine and Water For Elephants director Francis Lawrence.
Today Lawrence has signed to make Catching Fire. The film will start shooting in the fall, and “Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth will reprise their roles as Katniss, Peeta and Gale, with Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, and Woody Harrelson also returning to their respective roles.” The release date remains November 22, 2013.
Read the full press release below. Read More »
Posted on Thursday, April 19th, 2012 by Angie Han
After narrowing down the field to two possible contenders earlier this week, Lionsgate has finally settled on a new director to replace Gary Ross for its Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire. Francis Lawrence has just received the offer to helm the sequel, beating out fellow finalist Bennett Miller (Moneyball). Though Lawrence and Lionsgate have yet to finalize the deal, considering how quickly the studio is moving on this project, we can probably expect them to do so soon. More after the jump.
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For the last couple weeks the biggest question mark in Hollywood has been related to who Lionsgate plans to hire to direct The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire. Originally Gary Ross was thought to be set for the film, but it turned out that he had other ideas. After some extended last-minute dealmaking attempts, some of which included minor manipulations of the news that he was walking away from the film, Ross was revealed to be out of the picture for good.
So who steps in? A shortlist came out that includes some surprising names: David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuaron, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Now we can add two more names to the ‘possible’ column: Moneyball director Bennett Miller, and I Am Legend and Constantine director Francis Lawrence. Read More »
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