When it was announced that Steven Soderbergh would be doing some second unit directing work on Gary Ross‘ The Hunger Games, my interest went from 0% to…well, more than that. The adaptation of Suzanne Collins‘ popular novel is sure to be a hit and now we have our first release date into on the sequel, based on her book Catching Fire.
Lionsgate announced that it will hit theaters on November 22nd, 2013, the only film schedule for that date currently. Joe Drake, the co-COO of Lionsgate and President of its Motion Picture Group. gave the news and said the following:
“The magical thing about the ‘Hunger Games’ trilogy is that the books have such a vastly broad appeal. The stories truly offer something for everyone, and the period around the Thanksgiving weekend is such an opportunity for families and friends to make an event of going to the movies.”
In the meantime, the first film will hit March 23rd, 2012 release and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Dayo Okeniyi, Amandla Stenberg, Elizabeth Banks, Leven Rambin, Jack Quaid, Willow Shields, Paula Malcomson, Ian Nelson, Kalia Prescott, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland. Check out the new photos of the main leads above and below.
Banks also commented to Coming Soon about the shooting process, which can be seen below.
We’re almost done,” she says of the shoot which started in North Carolina this past May, “We’ve got a little under a month left. It’s very exciting. We’re really making a provocative movie that’s also highly entertaining. It’s gonna be fun. It’s really great to make something that you know people are excited about and also that you know is gonna deliver. I really think the fans are gonna love it.”
Are you looking forward to the first film? Even if it doesn’t live up to the novels, will you see the second?