who almost played haymitch instead of
woody harrelson which famous musician
tried and failed to get his songs played
in catching fire keep watching to learn
the untold truth about the hunger games
movies
the hunger games series ended up
grossing just under 3 billion dollars
worldwide making it one of the biggest
film franchises of the 2010s
it was an impressive feat especially
since the source material was still
fresh in the public consciousness
it wasn't a saga getting by on decades
of nostalgia but rather one that
resonated powerfully at the moment as a
result the franchise had no trouble
securing sizable box office returns
every single time it hit the theaters
given the series enormous financial
victories it might be surprising to
learn how little lionsgate paid for the
film rights back in 2008 newsweek
reported that the studio shelled out
just 200 000 to bring katniss everdeen
and her comrades to the big screen
while far from chump change that seems
like an impossibly low sum now given the
franchise's success the return on
investment wound up being massive with
the eventual box office grosses far
exceeding the price paid for the rights
nowadays it's nearly impossible to
imagine anyone but jennifer lawrence
playing the iconic lead role of katniss
everdeen the first hunger games film
came out at a pivotal time in lawrence's
career her star was rising after her
acclaimed turn in 2010's winter's bone
and her debut as mystique in 2011's
x-men first class plus the hunger games
premiered just months ahead of silver
linings playbook it might seem like
lawrence was fated to play katniss but
her selection was far from a sure thing
at the time according to ew the casting
search for the role spanned far and wide
with at least 30 different women being
considered for the part lawrence was a
top contender from the beginning but
young stars like haley steinfeld sercia
ronan and future divergent star shailene
woodley were also in the running the
process considered performers ranging
from ages 14 to 24 and since there was
initially no front runner it was open
season for young actors eventually
lawrence hot off her oscar nod for
winter's bone would score the role of
katniss changing her career and the
hunger games franchise forever thank you
for your consideration
while not quite as extensive as the hunt
for katniss everdeen lionsgate's search
for a director to helm the first hunger
games was still quite an affair in
september 2010 deadline reported that
the primary front-runners for the job
were gary ross sam mendes and david
slade francis lawrence who would go on
to direct all of the hunger games
sequels was also considered for the
first film but he was ultimately passed
over it's easy to see why lionsgate
gravitated towards each of these
filmmakers for the hunger games even
though they each had vastly different
qualifications slade for example was hot
off of helming the third twilight movie
eclipse which had reached a box office
high for the franchise meanwhile mendes
didn't have experience directing movies
aimed at teens but his reputation as
director of the best pitcher winning
film american beauty would have lent
instant prestige to the hunger games
eventually though lion's gate settled on
gary ross another director familiar with
awards season thanks to his 2003 sports
drama seabiscuit with ross at the helm a
key part of the hunger games equation
was solved
the casting for katniss peta and gail
took up much of the media's attention
when it came to getting actors assembled
for the hunger games but they were far
from the only characters in need of
talented stars
one of the most important figures in the
whole franchise is hey mitch abernathy a
former hunger games victor who's a shell
of his former self by the time he's
assigned as a mentor to katniss the part
required someone who could be funny
while also providing a believable sense
of sorrow and trauma it's a complex part
but also one of the most important to
the story in april 2011 as the hunger
games was nearing the start of principal
photography vulture reported that john c
reilly would be offered the role a
character actor known for working in all
genres riley seemed like a great fit he
could definitely handle the comic side
of haymitch and his dramatic
performances in films like chicago
demonstrated his ability to depict
vulnerability as well however despite
how promising the casting sounded it
wasn't to be woody harrelson was
ultimately selected for the part instead
and reprised the role in all three
hunger games sequels
oh joy why don't you join us
once the hunger games became a box
office smash it was immediately apparent
that the other two books in the series
catching fire and mockingjay would be
adapted into feature films as well even
before the first movie's release
lionsgate showed its confidence in the
franchise by scheduling a catching fire
adaptation for release in november 2013.
it was a bold move that showed high
expectations for the hunger games and it
also allowed for catching fire to come
out just a year and a half later
now because of her they all pose a
threat
because of her
they all think they're invincible
just a few days into the theatrical run
of the hunger games director gary ross
announced that he would not be directing
catching fire
according to ew ross admitted that the
sequel's rapid production schedule
didn't give him adequate time to prepare
the project making him uneager to return
when lionsgate quickly got to work
finding a replacement director for
catching fire the competition was
quickly narrowed down to two names
bennett miller and francis lawrence at
the time miller seemed like a solid pick
as he'd recently helmed award season
favorites like capote and moneyball
francis lawrence no relation to jennifer
was a genre movie veteran known for
films like constantine and i am legend
eventually the odds tilted in favor of
lawrence who ultimately won the gig and
went on to direct both parts of the
mockingjay adaptation as well
screenwriter michael arndt hit the
ground running at the start of his
career in hollywood his first produced
script was little miss sunshine which
would go on to win him an academy award
right after that aunt penned the
screenplay for toy story 3 making him 2
for 2 in critically acclaimed scripts
one of his many gigs after working on
the pixar film was rewriting the
screenplay for the hunger games catching
fire an experience that wound up being a
major challenge to pull off in an
interview with the script lab arndt
revealed that the primary issue he faced
with rewriting catching fire was time
every screenwriter wishes they had more
time to write and edit their scripts but
arnt had the specific challenge of
finalizing it in just 12 weeks before
filming began with such limited time on
his hands arnt needed all the help he
could get fortunately co-writer simon
boyfoy and the rest of the hunger games
creative team were there to provide
exactly that through extensive
collaboration arndt made sure that the
screenplay for catching fire was ready
to go just in time for the cameras to
start rolling
ed sheeran is such a popular artist that
it's hard to imagine anyone turning down
the opportunity to work with him he's
had big success contributing songs to
feature films like the hobbit the
desolation of smaug and yesterday
however lion's gate actually passed on
the chance to work with sheeran on the
hunger games catching fire rejecting a
trio of tunes that he proposed for the
film's soundtrack in an interview with
radio station click 98.9 sheeran said
that he pitched three original songs for
the catching fire soundtrack all of
which were turned down shiron also noted
that he had a similar experience having
song proposals rejected for the twilight
movies despite the setbacks he said that
he still wanted to produce music for
feature films as a way of expanding his
creative horizons of course given the
enormous success that sheeran's had in
the years since catching fire missing
out on the film obviously wasn't the end
of the world for the performer still
having so many original songs rejected
would be a disappointment for anyone
even him
it's easy to see why the third hunger
games book mockingjay was split into two
separate movies both the harry potter
and twilight series adaptations had
their final installments split into two
parts and the hobbit spawned an entire
trilogy all on its own it makes sense
why the hunger games would follow suit
after all turning one book into multiple
movies means extra opportunities for the
studio to milk a big name ip at the box
office if we burn
you burn with us
however the official reason given by
director francis lawrence for splitting
the mockingjay book into multiple films
was to emphasize two distinct tones in
katniss everdeen's final adventure
lawrence saw the first mockingjay movie
as being more internal a quiet but
ominous political affair whereas the
second film was a larger scale war story
for lawrence trying to cram these
different aesthetics into one film
wouldn't have worked so he welcomed the
opportunity to split the story into two
feature films of course the fact that
lionsgate got an extra blockbuster out
of this decision was a nice bonus for
the studio as well
in february 2014 hollywood lost an
acting legend when philip seymour
hoffman passed away from a drug overdose
at the age of 46. the actor left behind
a staggering body of work having earned
three oscar nominations and a win during
his lifetime hoffman's death came toward
the end of filming the two mockingjay
titles in which he appeared as game
maker and rebel commander plutarch
heavensby since heaven's bee was such an
important part of the books and the
catching fire movie hoffman's death had
a major impact on production in the end
only minor changes had to be made in the
wake of hoffman's passing he had just
one major scene left to film for the
second part of mockingjay and all of his
material for the first part had been
completed the big remaining scene was
supposed to show heavensbee meeting
katniss after her third act imprisonment
instead the scene was changed so that
hey mitch visited her and read a note
that heavensbee had written it was a
bittersweet moment for fans of the
beloved actor a clear reminder of
hoffman's absence and the tremendous
loss that hollywood had suffered
for a brief moment the casting of the
hunger games mockingjay part 2 included
lily rabe in the role of commander lime
being a part of the blockbuster
star-studded cast would have been a big
deal for rape but she eventually had to
drop out of the production with
gwendolyn chris deep replacing her in
the final cut
such drastic casting shifts and
productions as big as mockingjay are
sometimes due to behind the scenes drama
but according to rabe that wasn't the
case for her speaking to collider in
2021 rabe explained that when she
initially signed onto mockingjay she
didn't have any scheduling conflicts
however the shooting dates kept getting
bumped up eventually causing an
interference with rape's shakespeare in
the park production of much ado about
nothing since she had committed to the
play first rabe had to drop out of
mockingjay according to her the
producers of the film were very
understanding and supported rabe's
choice when it became clear she'd have
to pick one or the other though far from
ideal circumstances there are certainly
worse ways to leave the cast of such a
high profile movie
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