With the deadline for Academy Award nominations just two days away, perhaps it's not the best time for Jennifer Lawrence to be talking about how acting is "stupid." But that's what she does in the new issue of Vanity Fair. more »
It's official: Sam Claflin, British newcomer and co-star of recent blockbusters Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Snow White and the Huntsman, has been cast as former Games winner Finnick Odair in Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It's a sizable role and a fan favorite, as readers of Suzanne Collins' novels can attest — so what better way is there to get acquainted with your future Finnick than with a few adorable, worship-worthy photos?
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Also in Friday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, The New York Times Company's new CEO will make considerably less than his predecessor, and IGN President Roy Bahat steps down via email. more »
Before she was cast in Gary Ross's The Hunger Games as District 5's elusive Tribute — known only by the nickname "Foxface," per her wily dexterity and appearance — actress Jacqueline Emerson was a devoted fan of the YA series. Big time. "I was obsessed!" she told Movieline ahead of this week's Hunger Games DVD/Blu-ray release. "It was my new book series that I was in love with."
Upon getting the part (a connection to Ross's daughter put her in the director's sights), the high schooler had to keep her secret from friends and concerned teachers for months — and now, over a year and $684 million in Hunger Games box office receipts later, the one-time child rocker (Devo 2.0, anyone?) is looking to her next adventure with college and a Spike Lee project on the horizon.
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Francis Lawrence's Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire has nabbed yet another notable name for film fans in Amanda Plummer, the stage/TV/film veteran perhaps best known as the diner-robbing "Honey Bunny" in Pulp Fiction as well as for her roles in The Fisher King and So I Married an Axe Murderer. Plummer will take the role of a Tribute and former Games winner whose eccentricity belies an uncanny intelligence as she competes with Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss & Co. in the arena.
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Jena Malone, seen kicking all sorts of ass last year in Sucker Punch, has nabbed the role of Johanna Mason in the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire, THR reports. Malone is in negotiations to play the crafty and ruthless past Games winner from District 7, who joins Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they and fellow previous victors are forced back into the arena to fight to the death.
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Also in Friday morning's news round up, it looks like the next round of Hunger Games cast is shaping up. Psychological thriller Gut gets a digital distribution home and perhaps not exactly film-direct news, but the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the FCC over that Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" back in 2004…
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After inheriting the reins of the Hunger Games franchise from director Gary Ross, Francis Lawrence is making casting moves as the YA series sequel, Catching Fire, comes into view. According to THR, the first new cast addition may be Philip Seymour Hoffman, who has reportedly been offered a key role that will figure into the next two installments in the franchise: New Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee.
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Now that there's no need to dance around spoilers (because everyone in the world saw it in theaters) we finally have an official Hunger Games trailer reel that includes the best scenes and plot turns of Katniss Everdeen's journey from District 12 huntress to The Girl on Fire. Revisit highlights from Lionsgate's mega-franchise adaptation with the Hunger Games Blu-ray trailer and see what's in store in the jam-packed bonus features on for the August 2-disc Blu-ray and DVD release.
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Look, people: If you keep giving Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer money to make their cheap-o spoof flicks, they're going to keep the lowest common denominator drivel coming. Case in point: The Starving Games, the next in the duo's empire of big screen parodies, will take aim at Lionsgate's mega-hit The Hunger Games with a little something for every fanboy and girl. Variety reports: "Though The Hunger Games will be front and center for many of the jokes, other pics to be pilloried include The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes and the finale of the Harry Potter franchise." Ready, aim, spoof. [Variety]
Wednesday morning's news roundup includes a fire at Tyler Perry's studios in Atlanta, an AMPAS celebration for Gene Kelly's centennial and a rare screening of the first Oscar-winner, Wings. The Hunger Games partners form a new label, Fandor plans a new indie news site and Justin Bieber's manager joins a doc spotlighting America's school dropout crisis.
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Well, it looks like Lionsgate has picked their pony in the Catching Fire directing race; I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence has reportedly been offered the job to helm the Hunger Games sequel, which is set to start filming on a tight schedule this August. Lawrence has three features under his belt, in addition to music videos for the likes of J. Lo and Britney Spears; he most recently directed Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon in Water for Elephants (but also made 2005's Constantine).
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This is getting a little ridiculous: The Hunger Games claimed its fourth straight weekend box-office win on Sunday, mopping the floor with weak-sauce competition including The Three Stooges, Cabin in the Woods, and a brutally performing Lockout. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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According to an LA Times report citing an insider in the know, Lionsgate is looking at a few notable names to take the helm of the Hunger Games franchise for the series sequel Catching Fire. Among the "seven or eight names" -- all men, it's noted -- are David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuaron, and Alejandro González Iñárritu.
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Well, that was fast: Just hours after Josh Hutcherson gamely threw his support behind Hunger Games director Gary Ross, Ross has officially announced he's not directing the franchise sequel, Catching Fire. "I simply don't have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make," wrote Ross in a statement. More after the jump.
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