Archive for the ‘the hunger games’ Category

Well, now, according to THR‘s “insiders,” the selection has narrowed because testing for the role of Katniss’ Hunger Games co-Tribute, Peeta, happened today and they’ve got the list of guys who are in contention.
First off, there are the much-talked-about potentials, Josh Hutcherson, Lucas Till andHunter Parrish. While Hutcherson has been a personal top choice since the start, with Lawrence leading as Katniss, he’s feeling far less like a proper fit. The same goes for Till just in terms of looks alone; they may both be 20-years-old, but Till has a far younger look. Parrish, on the other hand, could be a winner visually and talent-wise.   Apparently Evan Peters of ‘Kick-Ass’ and Alexander Ludwig of ‘Escape to Witch Mountain’ are very much in the running as well. The drawback with these two, from our perspective at least, is that they don’t have a big body of work.

Apparently Liam Hemsworth, David Henrie, Robbie Amell,Drew Roy and maybe even more are being considered.

Source: THR, moviefone.com

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you know Jennifer Lawrence was your Katniss?
GARY ROSS: First I saw Winter’s Bone, and I just thought she was phenomenally talented and just kind of riveting and amazing and had so much power. And then we had a meeting and I found her to be just a completely compelling, intelligent person. But then she came in and read for me and it just knocked me out. I don’t want to go into too many details, but we did a scene from the movie and it was so amazingly powerful that it was sort of stunning. You glimpsed every aspect of the role and the potential of the whole movie.

There’s already quite a bit of hand-wringing that, no matter how good an actress Lawrence is, at 20 she’s simply too old for the role.
First of all I talked to Suzanne extensively about this. Suzanne saw every single audition. And not only did Suzanne not have an issue with Jen’s age, she felt you need someone of a certain maturity and power to be Katniss. This is a girl who needs to incite a revolution. We can’t have an insubstantial person play her, and we can’t have someone who’s too young to play this. Suzanne was incredibly adamant about this. Far from being too old, she was very concerned that we would cast someone who was too young. In Suzanne’s mind, and in mine, Katniss is not a young girl. It’s important for her to be a young woman. She’s a maternal figure in her family. She’s had to take care of Prim and in many ways her mother since her father’s death. She’s had to grow up pretty quick.

In the books, Katniss is described as being olive-skinned, dark-haired, possibly biracial. Did you discuss with Suzanne the implications of casting a blonde, caucasian girl?
Suzanne and I talked about that as well. There are certain things that are very clear in the book. Rue is African-American. Thresh is African-American. Suzanne had no issues with Jen playing the role. And she thought there was a tremendous amount of flexibility. It wasn’t doctrine to her. Jen will have dark hair in the role, but that’s something movies can easily achieve. [Laughs] I promise all the avid fans of The Hunger Games that we can easily deal with Jennifer’s hair color.

Have you had conversations with her about the enormity of stepping not just into a franchise like this, but a character that is already so beloved by the world? How do you prepare a young person for that?
Oh god, have you ever met her? [Laughs] Don’t worry about Jen Lawrence. She’s a very powerful person. Jennifer is from Kentucky. I think she feels such a complete connection to who Katniss is, the way many people do, but this just seems like a very good fit to her. I think she’s very confident about the role, I think it feels very organic to her. She’s ready to dive in. She goes to archery class next week. Yeah, she’s going to start shooting arrows next week! I think by the end of the week she’s going to be learning to climb trees. She’s a very strong, confident young woman. She’s very confident in her own talent and who she is as a woman, and I think that all these things make her want to dive into the role.

Find the rest at EW.com

Hopefully after reading this, more fans will feel confident with Jen as Katniss. I know I do.

What do you think?

 

IT’S OFFICIAL: JENNIFER LAWRENCE IS KATNISS EVERDEEN

LIONSGATE AND “THE HUNGER GAMES” FILMMAKERS CONFIRM HIGHLY ANTICIPATED CASTING DECISION

Photo © Pamela Littky

LOS ANGELES, CA, March 17, 2011- Lionsgate and the filmmakers of “The Hunger Games” are pleased to announce that Academy Award®nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence will assume the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen in the much anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games.”

The film will be directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force.  Collins’ best-selling novel, which has over 3 million copies in print in the United States alone, is the first in a trilogy of science fiction/action novels which have developed a global following.  Lionsgate will release “The Hunger Games” on March 23, 2012.

Newcomer Lawrence’s meteoric ascent began in earnest with her breakout role in last year’s “Winter’s Bone,” and culminated in an Academy Award nomination. This summer, Lawrence will star in Matthew Vaughn’s “X Men: First Class” and in “The Beaver” directed by Jodie Foster. Later this year, she co-stars in the Sundance Grand Jury winner “Like Crazy”.

Author Suzanne Collins weighed in on the selection of Lawrence, “Jennifer’s just an incredible actress.  So powerful, vulnerable, beautiful, unforgiving and brave.  I never thought we’d find somebody this perfect for the role.  And I can’t wait for everyone to see her play it.”

“I’m so excited work with Jen and see her bring this character to life.  Katniss requires a young actress with strength, depth, complexity, tenderness, and power. There are very few people alive who can bring that to a role.  Jen brings it in spades. She’s going to be an amazing Katniss.” said director Gary Ross.

“The Hunger Games” chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.  Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss volunteers to take her place.  Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.  The Hunger Games novel has been on the New York Times best seller list for over 100 consecutive weeks. Foreign rights for the book, published by Scholastic have been sold in 41 countries.

 

Source: Lionsgate

 

Finally!  So, what do you think of our Katniss?