More 'Hunger Games' And 'Twilight' Movies May Happen If Lionsgate Gets Its Way
Lionsgate may volunteer the Hunger Games and Twilight franchises as tribute to reboot mania.
Both franchises wrapped up their stories before cinematic universe fever broke, and Lionsgate is itching to fill the hole — first by exploring a John Wick universe that spans movies, TV, and comic books, and now by revisiting their most popular and lucrative franchises.
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer implied that the studio is looking to produce more installments or spin-offs of the Hunger Games and Twilight franchises provided they get Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and Hunger Games writer Suzanne Collins to sign off, according to Variety.
Feltheimer said during a quarterly earnings call with analysts on Tuesday:
"There are a lot more stories to be told, and we're ready to tell them when our creators are ready to tell those stories."
The fact that this conversation took place on an earnings call with Wall Street, without involving the authors, is telling. It's less about "more stories to be told," and more about how much they can market franchises that were on unsteady narrative ground to begin with.
Okay, Hunger Games may have a world worth exploring, especially in prequel form before the games were instituted, or even at the beginning of the games' inception. But what an utterly nihilistic franchise that turned out to be. I do think it was bold of Collins to write such a dreary ending — and even bolder for a mega-blockbuster franchise to go through with it — but it doesn't lend to world expansion after the fact. The story of Katniss Everdeen is done, and shouldn't be explored more as that girl has suffered enough.
As for Twilight, haven't we butchered vampire mythology enough? Though I've only read the first book and seen the first and third movie — not of my own volition — it seems like there isn't much more "story" to suck dry after Bella and Edward have had their vampire baby who is now fated to fall in love with the werewolf Jacob. Oh god, that's going to be the spin-off isn't it? Nope, I don't want to know.
Of course, these are all early talks without the author's perspectives. I doubt they will have much input however, since the movies that were loyally adapting their books are now done, and Lionsgate has the rights to make as many films as they want. Maybe this is the beginning of a Hunger Games and Twilight crossover cinematic universe in which it turns out vampires were the cause of the downfall of the U.S. government — and the source of much future box office revenue for Lionsgate.