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Posted 05.05.12 by Ryan If you're going to work on the script for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, you'd better have an Oscar.
Before Lionsgate even released The Hunger Games, the studio hired Academy Award–winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) to adapt Suzanne Collins' sequel novel into a script, but after director Gary Ross decided against returning for the sequel, the studio hired Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) to replace Ross and apparently wants the script rewritten.
who is rewriting Catching Fire? Plus ross goes houdini >> -
Posted 05.01.12 by Chris Hell hath no fury like a Twi-hard scorned.
For the past four years, a certain sparkling-vampire movie franchise has dominated the MTV Movie Awards. The Twilight franchise has won 15 Golden Popcorn awards since 2009, including back-to-back-to-back Movie of the Year wins — causing some to dub MTV's show the Twilight Awards. But it now seems the franchise's reign is over, and Twi-hards are not happy about it.
Instead of dominating the nominations yesterday, surprisingly Breaking Dawn: Part 1 was nearly shut out. The movie only received two nominations, Movie of the Year and Best Kiss. On the MTV awards nomination page, fans are livid about the Twilight snub. One fan writes he / she has "never been so upset in my life."
Read Twi-hards' outrage >> -
Posted 04.20.12 by Chris When Gary Ross opted not to return to direct Jennifer Lawrence in the sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, the search was on to quickly replace him. Just a little over a week after Ross bowed out, Lionsgate is said to have found a replacement — Francis Lawrence.
His directing credits include I Am Legend, Constantine, and Water for Elephants. Before featured films, Lawrence made his mark directing music videos for Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Green Day. While Lawrence has proven he can handle a large production with extensive special effects (I Am Legend), THR says it might have been his open schedule and not his résumé that landed him the job.
Who did lawrence beat out? >> - Posted 04.15.12 by Chris
| Title | Weekend | Total | Analysis |
| The Hunger Games | 21.5M | $337M | First movie since Avatar to hold the #1 spot at the box office for four weekends in a row; has now earned more than $500M worldwide |
| The Three Stooges | $17.1M | $17.1M | The Farrelly Brothers' best debut in over a decade |
| The Cabin in the Woods | $14.9M | $14.9M | Despite strong reviews from critics, moviegoers gave this three-year-old horror flick a dreadful C CinemaScore |
| Titanic in 3-D | $11.6M | $44.4M | With its 3-D re-release, the #2 movie of all time now has a lifetime gross of more than $2 billion worldwide |
| American Reunion | $10.7M | $39.9M | People decided to skip this reunion early; pic has earned less than half of what Wedding and Pie 2 grossed after two weeks |
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Posted 04.11.12 by Ryan Director Gary Ross' possible return to the director's chair for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has been the subject of much online debate this week. First it appeared that the director had dropped out of a follow-up to his wildly successful The Hunger Games, then it was reported that Lionsgate was making a last-ditch effort to keep Ross on board. All along we assumed that either Ross wouldn't abandon such a wildly successful franchise at its beginning stages or that the studio wouldn't let Ross get away, but The Playlist held strong to its story that Ross was gone and turned out to be right. In a statement, Ross said:
Despite recent speculation in the media, and after difficult but sincere consideration, I have decided not to direct Catching Fire. As a writer and a director, I simply don't have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make because of the fixed and tight production schedule.
more about Catching Fire >> -
Posted 04.09.12 by Ryan Last week, it was rumored that The Hunger Games director Gary Ross had dropped out of the sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Turns out, he hasn't. At least, not yet.
Ross co-wrote and directed The Hunger Games, but reportedly wasn't too pleased over Lionsgate's low ball offer to direct Catching Fire. Over the weekend, however, Deadline reported that Ross had not formally withdrawn from the Hunger Games sequel, and argued that Ross had invested too much in the first movie to drop out of the sequel over money. According to THR Ross and Lionsgate are meeting today to discuss the director's participation in Catching Fire. Ross is not signed for the sequel, and, reportedly is hesitant about the quick turnaround Lionsgate has planned for Catching Fire.
The studio's urgency stems from Jennifer Lawrence's commitment to the X-Men franchise. Fox's decision to shoot its X-Men: First Class sequel next January ostensibly cleared the way for Catching Fire to make its scheduled August-September production start, but only gives Ross about four months to approve the script that Academy Award–winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) has delivered and prep for the sequel shoot, which apparently is less than desirable to Ross. However, what isn't desirable for Lionsgate is waiting for Lawrence to finish work on a First Class sequel before they can continue with a Hunger Games franchise that, in just three weeks, has already earned more money domestically than any Twilight installment. Waiting could push Catching Fire off by nearly a year, so expect the studio to reach some kind of agreement with Ross soon.
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Posted 04.09.12 by Chris In The Hunger Games, teens from 12 districts from a dystopian future are picked to fight each other to the death. In The Hipster Games, hipsters from Portland, Austin, Brooklyn, Silverlake, and Oakland are picked to battle ironically. "It's like Battle Royale but with white people."
The Hipster Games is pretty much like The Hunger Games except instead of collecting supplies like water and weapons, the tributes in The Hipster Games chase down vintage albums and guitars and instead of asking sponsors for life-saving items like medicine and soup, the hipster tributes request the official hipster drink — PBR. And instead of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, the tributes in The Hipster Games are Loch Ness Evergreen and Falafel Malarkey.
The three-minute parody was directed by Christopher Guerrero. A Washington Post columnist jokingly suggested Guerrero to direct the Hunger Games sequels if Gary Ross doesn't return.
The video pokes fun at not only The Hunger Games but hipsters as well. "I've been raw foods vegan for like 3 years now so this is all just like one big food bin for me."
watch the new parody video >> - Posted 04.08.12 by Chris
| Title | Weekend | Total | Analysis |
| The Hunger Games | $33.5M | $302.8M | Not even the second-biggest movie of all time (Titanic) could stop Hunger Games's box office run; crossed the $300M mark in just 17 days |
| American Reunion | $21.5M | $21.5M | Smallest debut of the Pie franchise, proving this might actually be the last slice |
| Titanic 3-D | $17.4M | $25.7M | Made less than recent 3-D re-releases like The Lion King and The Phantom Menace, proving interest in 3-D reissues is dwindling |
| Wrath of the Titans | $15M | $58.9M | Decision to open Wrath in Hunger Games's window proved to be a bad move by the studio, nowhere close the the original's box office haul |
| Mirror Mirror | $11M | $36.5M | Down just 21% from last weekend but movie is already considered a dud |
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Posted 04.06.12 by Ryan Today we learn that Jennifer Lawrence's schedule has cleared up so she can return to play Katniss Everdeen in the sequel to The Hunger Games but it was also revealed today that she won't be reuniting with director Gary Ross.
With The Hunger Games destroying everything in its path at the box office, Lionsgate already basically announced that the sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, was in the works when the studio gave the sequel a November 2013 release date last year. Catching Fire took another step forward when Academy Award–winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) delivered the first draft of the sequel script before Hunger Games even opened. The only issue that seemed to be a stumbling block for Catching Fire was that Lawrence was also contractually obligated to a X-Men: First Class sequel, with Lawrence confirming last month that she's "in" for a return as mutant shapeshifter Mystique. Since X-Men: First Class came before The Hunger Games, 20th Century Fox had the right to exercise their contract option over Lawrence even if Lionsgate needed her for Catching Fire.
According to THR, however, Fox decided to play nice and shoot the First Class sequel next January as opposed to the fall, which is when Lionsgate had planned to shoot Catching Fire. However, now Catching Fire has another hurdle to clear before they can start production: hiring a new director.
Ross gone from catching fire? >> -
Posted 04.06.12 by Chris Sure, you have read Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games books over and over and you've seen the movie more than once but did you know that more than 35 full-time makeup artists were needed for the main cast and movie's 500 extras?
That is just one of the Hunger Games factoids you find at list25.com's 25 Things You Didn't Know About The Hunger Games.
The list gives Hunger Games fans tidbits they may not know about the movie, like the fact that Jennifer Lawrence and Lenny Kravitz, who plays Cinna, were friends even before they started shooting Hunger Games.
List25's rundown answers some burning Hunger Games questions like what did filmmakers use for the poisonous nightlock berries? How many costumes were made for the Capitol citizens? And who had to gain 30 pounds of muscle for his role?