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So guys, I feel like I need to get real here. I've often talked about how The Hunger Games has changed my life and of course all the epic opportunities I've had that comes with running this site. So why did I feel the need to desperately connect with all you lovely folks online in the first place? Reading The Hunger Games trilogy CHANGED ME. But really, it was Mockingjay. Mockingjay is the reason I love this series as much as I do, and if it were up to me I wouldn't change a single word.
It's possible you've noticed this site's devotion to the third book, as seen in our Mockingjay Mockup. After reading Mockingjay in the double digits, it became clear that Mockingjay was most deserving of splitting into two. The way Suzanne writes is constantly on the move, and so much happens in such a small amount of pages. This is why we wrote the Mockingjay Mockup so we could convince others not only should this happen, but if it did why it was a GOOD thing.
So here we are at long last waiting patiently for Mockingjay details to come to light. Here's what has come out this past week:
As you guys may know, they have been filming Mockingjay Part 1 & 2 in Atlanta. (If you leave nearby and wanna be an extra, check out CL Casting "Untitled Trilogy" ) So excited to see that Crazy Cat made the cut!
Today, a GREAT article from Variety was released about the upcoming Mockingjay films. Here are some cool tidbits from the article:
Some opportunities when new Mockingjay material might get released:
There will be reveals of the campaign in May at the Cannes film festival and in July at Comic-Con. Until then, Lionsgate is trying to keep specifics under wraps, though director Lawrence allows that the next two films take place in a Panem so devolved as to be barely recognizable.The fact that Erik Feig is comparing The Hunger Games to Star Wars is a huge sign to me that Lionsgate execs have the right idea about this franchise.
“Not since Luke Skywalker shot into the Death Star has one person had that kind of impact in a franchise film,” asserts Lionsgate production president Erik Feig. “What I really love about how (the 23-year-old Lawrence) plays that character is that Katniss is larger than life and yet she wears her emotions in a very relatable way. She’s not a superhero by any stretch — she’s all too human in the face of extreme conditions — and she faces them with the presence of mind that we all wish we had.”
Producer Nina Jacobson adds that thematically, the film strikes a nerve with auds. “I was reading a New York Times article on the set about economic inequality, and it made me feel as if we’re becoming more like Panem each year,” she asserts. “The similarities are striking.”
EPIC DETAILS ABOUT INTERNATIONAL FILMING LOCATIONS!!
Lionsgate has even booked Berlin’s massive Templehof Airport — built in 1927, reconstructed by the Nazis as a symbol of supremacy, and closed six years ago — and huge apartment complexes outside Paris for shooting battle scenes. Feig allows that part of the inspiration came from Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” his cinematic recounting of the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam.
“Kubrick shot the siege in London,” Feig notes. “In a weird way, we love the idea of urban sprawl. So we (looked for) big buildings that have been around forever. We kept coming back to classic war movies, and we started thinking we should look into Europe.”
Producer Jon Kilik says the “Mockingjay” films mean Lionsgate is moving to the next level. “We are trying to create the reality of a future that’s rooted in the past,” he notes, adding that shooting in Hawaii for “Catching Fire” added to the film’s spectacle. “Those locations are extra-special, and it’s a real reach financially for them,” Kilik says.That last piece of information is a doozy. Add this to the fact that Mockingjay is Francis Lawrence's favorite, and what an amazing job he did with Catching Fire in a short time frame, all signs point to a great marketing campaign and great films that will respect the book. I can't believe how lucky we are to have these fine people working on this precious trilogy and honoring it how I had always hoped for.
Check out the full Variety article HERE
