Catching Fire panel for Comic-Con announced

There have been some questions about who exactly will attend Comic-Con for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire panel. We now have the answer.

The cast members attending will be Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta), Liam Hemsworth (Gale), Lenny Kravitz (Cinna), Jena Malone (Johanna), Jeffrey Wright (Beetee), and Willow Shields (Primrose). Also set to attend is director Francis Lawrence. Along with the panel there will be a new trailer premiering and many websites are saying immediately after it shows at Comic-Con it will be online to watch as much as you want.

Catching Fire will have the panel in Hall H on Saturday, July 20th. Lionsgate's presentations begin at 1:45pm. The film is in theaters November 22nd.

Catching Fire fan contest announced!

Production has officially begun on the much anticipated film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire! Filming will continue into late 2012 and will shoot mostly in and around Atlanta, GA.
The announcement comes with a fan contest introduced by director Francis Lawrence. The contest is as follows...

Visit the official contest website to enter  May the odds be ever in your favor.

Philip Seymour Hoffman WILL play Plutarch in Catching Fire

I wrote about this a couple weeks ago but we now have confirmation that Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Moneyball) will play Plutarch Heavensbee (aka, the new Gamemaker) in Catching Fire, the upcoming sequel to The Hunger Games.

This excites the fuck out of me. When I read this article earlier today I almost jumped out of my chair. This makes two casting choices I am really happy with, along with Jena Malone as Johanna, so hopefully they didn't skimp out when it comes to Finnick. Whoever is cast better be a good choice.

New Catching Fire casting rumors feat. Philip Seymour Hoffman

It seems that since we still have no confirmation on who will be playing Finnick Odair in Catching Fire people have moved onto the other characters who need actors. It has now surfaced that the role of Plutarch Heavensbee (aka, the new Gamemaker) could be played by none other than Philip Seymour Hoffman. Plutarch is an important but fairly small character in the book so who knows if Hoffman will accept the offer, but they are trying.

Personally, I think Hoffman could do great things with Plutarch. I hope he accepts.

http://collider.com/philip-seymour-hoffman-hunger-games-catching-fire/172477/

[UPDATE] Taylor Kitsch will not be in Catching Fire

The casting rumors and shoot downs for the role of Finnick in Catching Fire continue to appear. The latest rumor to die is 31-year old Taylor Kitsch. You may know him from the recent box office bombs John Carter and Battleship. Kitsch told the LA Times that it is "not going to happen." This news comes shortly after Robert Pattinson denied his involvement and said he will not be playing Finnick.

Earlier this week E! Online reported that casting had apparently come down to three finalists: Taylor Kitsch, Armie Hammer (The Social Network, Mirror Mirror), and Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy, On the Road). The downright truth of this remains unknown as Lionsgate is refusing to comment on and/or confirm or deny anything about the casting of Finnick, but if this is true it seems that we only have two options.

 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2012/05/hunger-games-taylor-kitsch-finnick.html


Out of the two remaining I would much rather have Garrett Hedlund. I think he has more of the look and overall feel of Finnick over Armie Hammer. I have only seen Hammer in one film, which was The Social Network, and I wasn't all that impressed. The only thing he has over Hedlund is the physique. However, Hammer is starring in The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp and that is a new franchise hopeful for Disney. It is possible that due to his upcoming scheduling he might not even be available to commit to both Catching Fire and Mockingjay as the role of Finnick is in both.

More directors for Catching Fire added to the list of possibles

Two more directors have been added to the list of potentials for Catching Fire, the upcoming sequel to The Hunger Games. As I previously posted, the three directors who are already being considered are David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Now we must add in Bennett Miller and Francis Lawrence. 


Miller:
Moneyball
Capote


Lawrence:
Water for Elephants 
I Am Legend
Constantine

They are really throwing out some good contenders for this movie, ffs. I liked both Moneyball and Capote, but I also really liked Water for Elephants. At this point I think I would be fine with any of the 5 contenders so far... but I am still kind of hoping for Cronenberg. =^D




http://collider.com/hunger-games-2-sequel-bennet-miller-francis-lawrence/159952/

Gary Ross drops out of Catching Fire

This move I don't really understand, especially after the tremendous success of The Hunger Games. I just hope they get someone who knows what the fuck they are doing for both Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/206688/the-hunger-games-sequel-catching-fire-needs-a-new-director/

Common Sense Media warns parents of The Hunger Games

No matter what you do people will have something to bitch about. If you let your 11 year old read a book that describes children killing children then you shouldn't complain about the movie being violent. That's my opinion.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/03/20/hunger-games-common-sense-media/