That's a Wrap!

Looks like production on Catching Fire officially ended on December 21st, and we are now into post production. Every month we get a little closer....


source: Twitter

EPIX Offers Fans 14 Day Trial!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We hope you enjoyed the 12 days of Questmas, if you haven't entered our giveaway you can do so HERE. In that post we mentioned this:

The Hunger Games on EPIXYou may have noticed some awesome Hunger Games billboards pop up in your town. They are for the world television premiere of The Hunger Games on EPIX! Catch it at 12 PM PST on New Year's Day or on January 4th as part of their free preview weekend hosted by the man with the beard, Wes Bentley.

Now we can announce that EPIX is giving fans a FREE (no credit card required!) 14 day trial with access to The Hunger Games as well as many other blockbuster movies.

SIGN UP FOR FREE TRIAL HERE

And check out a new trailer for The Hunger Games to Girl On Fire by Alicia Keyes:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Courtney & Tiffany

Day 11 of The 12 Days of Questmas!!

On the 11th day of Questmas we gladly bring to you....

A cup of tea and a sweet giveaway!!

If you've been following us on Twitter,  you might have seen our tweets and retweets concerning the #12daysofHungerGames! Lionsgate has been spreading Christmas cheer all around the interwebs by teaming up with various Hunger Games fansites who are giving away a different holiday gift for use in The Hunger Games Adventures and even providing some sweet giveaways!

We are completely honored to be bringing you DAY 11 of the #12daysofHungerGames

Your Hunger Games Adventures Gift
Please enjoy this virtual cup of tea on us!

CLICK HERE for your exclusive gift!

The Hunger Games on EPIX
You may have noticed some awesome Hunger Games billboards pop up in your town. They are for the world television premiere of The Hunger Games on EPIX! Catch it at 12 PM PST on New Year's Day or on January 4th as part of their free preview weekend hosted by the man with the beard, Wes Bentley.

#12DaysofHungerGames GIVEAWAY!!
Thanks to Lionsgate, we are giving away FIVE Catching Fire books and FIVE Hunger Games DVDs.

Thanks for entering! Winners to be announced soon!

12 Days of Christmas Fansite Giveaways!!

Happy Holidays! If you checked our post on December 12th, you'd know that Lionsgate kicked off their "12 days of Questmas" giveaway! 12 fansites are giving away free stuff as well as a new gift everyday in The Hunger Games Adventures facebook game. We'll be updating this list every day so you don't miss a thing!

1. Mockingjay.net

2. TheHob.org

3. HungerGamesTrilogy.net

4. Down With The Capitol

5. Sparks Will Fly

6. My Hunger Games

7. HungerGamesMovie.org

8. HG Girl on Fire

9. HG Movie Site

10. Victor's Village

11. Welcome To District 12   <------------ That's us!!

12. HG Fireside Chat

Jennifer Lawrence to Host SNL

Do you hear that? Those are the cheers and cries of joy from The Hunger Games fandom. Jennifer Lawrence is at long last going to host SNL on January 19th. HUZZAH!

Source: SNL Facebook

The Hunger Games Gets A Golden Globe Nomination!

The Golden Globe nominations are in and we snagged one! Huzzah! Well, rather Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars did:

Hold on, we're not done yet. Looks like Jennifer Lawrence also is nominated for Best Actress in a comedy or musical. As if that's a surprise to anyone. Best of luck to her as she's up against Emily Blunt, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Meryl Streep.

Here's a list of some other Hunger Games actors who have been nominated for other projects:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"

Woody Harrelson, "Game Change"
Toby Jones, "The Girl"

Check out the rest of the nominations HERE

Mockingjay.net Kicks Off Lionsgate's 12 Days of Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Lionsgate is partnering with 12 fansites in tons of giveaways that lasts 12 days! Today's the first day and Mockingjay.net is kicking it off:

They’re giving twelve fansites (each representing the 12 Districts of Panem) 5 copies of The Hunger Games DVDs and 5 copies of the Catching Fire book to give away to their readers. Mockingjay.net is very happy to be kicking off the sweepstakes with Day 1! Read on for more information on how you can win. We will update this post with the links to each fansite so that you can increase your chances of winning!

The 12 Days of Questmas

In addition to the sweepstakes, Funtactix, the creators of the Facebook game The Hunger Games Adventures, has created an in-game item exclusive to Mockingjay.net readers!
To claim your in-game gift, simply go to this link: http://bit.ly/THGA12-MJnet
Hope you all are having fun with the newly added holiday quests in game! Each fansite will be giving you a link to a different exclusive item, so you’ll definitely want to come back each day to find out who’s next!

The Hunger Games 12 Days of Christmas

Day 1: Mockingjay.net
Day 2-12: TBD
To enter to win one of 5 THE HUNGER GAMES DVDS or 5 CATCHING FIRE BOOKS from Lionsgate and Mockingjay.net, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below and comment on this post by answering this question:
Some generous soul in the Capitol gives you $1,000 to spend on gifts for only one of the 12 Districts of Panem. What district would you choose to award and what gifts would you buy for them to give them a Merry Christmas?
We’ve included four additional ways for you to enter yourself, including a daily tweet entry. If you tweet about this contest, be sure to use the hashtag #12DaysOfHungerGames.
This contest will run from 12/12/12 to 12/23/12 at midnight Eastern time. The contest is open worldwide. And may the odds be ever in your favor!

Head over to Mockingjay.net to enter!!!
We will be tweeting every fansite day, so make sure you are following us on twitter!

Hmmm....I wonder which fansites will be involved for the 12 days? Curious.... ;)

Watch Hilarious Parody Video: THE HOBBIT GAMES

 In connection with the release of The Hobbit this week, check out this hilarious parody video: The Hobbit Games!!

Check it out:


via Mockingjay.net

Love love love The Hobbit? Listen to last night's HG Fireside Chat episode where we talk about THG and The Hobbit!

Grammy nominations for songs off the Hunger Games soundtrack

Grammy nominations are out and songs off the Hunger Games soundtrack snagged a couple!

And Taylor Swift tweeted about it:

Watch the Grammys on Feb 10 on CBS to find out who wins!

Update for Victory Tour 2013: Register now!

Watch an update from Head Gamemaker Ellie from Victory Tour 2013:

Registering for Victory Tour 2013 is under way, and if you've been planning on attending, please do not hesitate to register! Victory Tour 2013 needs 100 more registrations by the end of December, or it can't happen.

Take it from us, getting to hang with fellow Hunger Games fans will be a blast. Sign up today!

HUZZAH! Danny Strong CONFIRMED as Mockingjay Screenwriter

HELL YES!

As far as we've heard, fans are stoked at the prospect of Danny Strong writing Mockingjay. In case you've missed our past coverage on the matter, rumors first hit the web in October and a few weeks later Elizabeth Banks posted about him on her blog. Since then, we've not heard a peep from Lionsgate (we even tried to find confirmation for ourselves) that is until today!

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, they have posted an article with Danny Strong who talks in depth about his achievements this past year, at the very end he mentions Mockingjay:

As for Mockingjay — I can say very little about it. I was approached to pitch on it, and I just literally holed myself up for a week and came up with a presentation for two movies. I pitched my little heart out, and got the job. I literally can’t say anything else — I will just get in trouble. It’s, like, Defcon 5 on security over there. It’s really crazy.

 Read the entire article over at EW

Well at last we have confirmation, and we are so so stoked. We are confident in Danny Strong's ability to honor the Mockingjay story, and am very glad to hear Lionsgate is trying to keep a lid on it all.

If you haven't, check out our Mockingjay Mockup series where we discuss splitting the book into two films. We are currently working on the next issue...

The Panem Companion Victory Tour: District 7

We are honored to announce that we are the District 7 stop on the Panem Companion Victory Tour!

To read our review of The Panem Companion by V. Arrow, CLICK HERE.

We are very excited about this district since we are big Johanna fans, but Courtney also first came into this world close to Yosemite National Park so she has a big affinity for trees. HUZZAH District 7!

Thanks to Smart Pop Books, not only will we be showing you an exclusive excerpt from the book, but at the bottom you can enter to win your very own copy!

This victory tour being held for The Panem Companion is touring all the districts (fan sites), so keep an eye out for future stops, exerpts, and book giveaways!

District 7 – Excerpt from The Panem Companion by V. Arrow

“The question of Prim’s parentage is a significant point of analytical fandom debate.
Is blonde-haired, blue-eyed Prim really the “passes”-for-merchant biracial daughter of
darkhaired Mr. Everdeen? Or should Prim really be Primrose Mellark? There are staunch supporters on both sides of the issue . . .

“Some of the most compelling pieces of evidence for Prim’s potential Mellark lineage
come from the subtle ways that the Mellarks have become integral to the Everdeens’
family life and the similarities between Prim and the Mellark men (but not Mrs. Mellark,
with her unspeakable cruelty; it could even be inferred that both Prim and Peeta got their gentle natures from Mr. Mellark for precisely this reason: both Mrs. Everdeen and Mrs. Mellark are written very negatively, as emotionally distant and, in Mrs. Mellark’s case, physically abusive).”

Panem Names glossary excerpt:

Johanna Mason, District 7 Tribute in the Quarter Quell

“Although Mason generally refers to stonelayers when derived from French, the Old
English mason means to make. Considering that Johanna is from District 7 and their
specialty is lumber and forestry, it’s unlikely that the connection to stonemasonry is the
inspiration for her last name. Given her involvement in the Quell plot and the Second
Rebellion, it is more probable that her surname refers to the Freemasons, an international fraternal organization sometimes referred to as a secret society.

“Freemasonry ‘uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons’ tools and implements . . .
to convey what has been described by both Masons and critics as ‘a system of values
and beliefs veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.’ They are also dedicated to the
principles of liberty, equality, and the pursuit of truth, just like Panem’s rebels—like
Johanna.

“Another potential origin is the mathematical Mason’s Rule, which deals with the
transfer of equilibrium in a branch of engineering and mathematics called control theory.

“Johanna is a German name, and is different from the English Joanna in both origin
and meaning. Joanna means God is gracious. Johanna, however, means God is merciful
or God’s merciful gift—ironic, given Johanna’s original Games strategy, as related by
Katniss: show no mercy.”

Buy The Panem Companion

Giveaway contest now closed. Stay tuned for winner announcement!

Book Review: The Companion Devoted Fans Deserve

The Hunger Games may not be the only series that you are "obsessed" with. Many of us claim to be experts in things like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and others. This list goes on, but perhaps many of you have experienced it yourself: You are wandering your neighborhood bookstore, and find oodles of "philosophy" books of [insert obsession here]. Many unofficial guides and companion books only scratch the surface of what’s going on in the novels and series that they concern. You buy it, you read it, and come to find that the book you just spent some money on tells you absolutely nothing that you don't already know. Where those types of companion books fail, The Panem Companion succeeds. The author V. Arrow is known with fans of The Hunger Games as the creator of one of the most widely known fan-made maps of Panem; she even discusses the inception and creation of that map in the very first chapter. Fans are assured that the author of this companion book is truly one of them, and in her book, she taps into and fleshes out what the fans really talk about.

WARNING: This book is not for the casual fan! V. assumes that those who read The Panem Companion have read the trilogy (probably more than once) and hints at the Internet culture of the Hunger Games fandom (You might have seen V.'s posts around tumblr or even livejournal. yep, that's still there). The point is, she not only really understands the internet culture (are you familiar with headcanons?), but understands the online Hunger Games fandom as a whole and what makes it tick. Where the media would assume that Hunger Games fans obsess over the supposed “love triangle”, V. knows that what concerns us most and what is frankly far more interesting are the ideals and ideas implied in the novel (which by the way, V. explains, isn't even technically a love triangle). She treats The Hunger Games the way an English Lit grad student would treat a classic literary work. She presents theories and topics that are discussed in fandom (Prim’s parentage, class, race and gender roles in Panem’s culture, the roles of family), and though not necessarily saying the reader should believe them, but supporting these theories with textual evidence, even looking to outside sources in the academic world, so that we may at least consider them and make our own judgments. If you are really interested in the culture of Panem and the thoughts and ideas The Hunger Games has to offer, you just might devour this book.

The Panem Companion is a guide for the critical thinker type of fan. It is well researched, and her arguments are pretty sound. Keep in mind that the book deals with The Hunger Games book-verse for simplicity and continuity. There aren’t many YA companion books out there that treat the source material with as much reverence and the fans with as much intellectual regard. The material in this book is not dumbed down and is at times at the college or graduate level, though V. does a great job with explaining more advanced terms for those who are unfamiliar with them so even younger or less experienced readers can follow along. On the flipside to that, V. very much “comes from the Internet”, using terms like “fandom” and “shipping” just as easily.

Knowing what we know about the fandom and how they communicate with each other, it's quite heartwarming knowing the author feels what you feel and understands what the books mean to us emotionally, not just some random dude with a philosophy major who think it's cool to write about what's "in".  Because of the thoughts and ideas that came with The Hunger Games, it brought a big thirst for discussion, hence us looking to the internet to talk with others about this incredible series. I remember an episode of HG Fireside Chat sometime last year where we discussed an interesting blog posting by our friend Sylah from DWTC, and lo and behold we found it cited in the Panem Companion. V. really made us feel as if we have been seeing the fandom shape and grow side by side. 
 
For any fan willing to go deeper into what The Hunger Games and its fandom is really about, for fans that love theories and discussions and critical thinking, The Panem Companion is a MUST BUY. Get ready for knowledge, get ready for your mind to be blown (Truly, my name is Cinna), and get ready to feel really really smart.

May your bread be toasty and your arrow fly straight,

Courtney & Tiffany


Stay tuned TODAY for a nifty post related to the Panem Companion...