Catching Fire 2013
The Hunger Games is due in theatres in 7 months. They’re still shooting. It kinda worries me how much time they’ll have in post, and whether or not the CGI parts will be up to level, but I suppose, if the emotional urgency of the story is properly conveyed, it doesn’t really matter how real the arena looks. And Lionsgate has so much confidence in it that the studio has already confirmed a release date for the sequel Catching Fire, announcing yesterday that the film will be in theatres November 22, 2013 for the Thanksgiving box office.
I find this a little bit surprising. I thought they’d wait until after the first movie opened, gauge the response, gauge the money. Doing it now... like, it’s almost a declaration that The Hunger Games will get Twilight numbers, right? You know me. I love The Hunger Games. And I think it’ll be successful. I think it’ll do solid numbers. But I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say that it’s going to attract those kinds of numbers. I’m not saying it won’t. Read that part again, that sentence: I’m not saying it won’t. I’m just saying it’s certainly not an automatic. Going ahead though and booking the date for the second release though, it feels like automatic, it feels like they’ve assumed the automatic.
So everyone’s been asking: how do you feel about waiting 18 months between movies?
Well, actually I don’t. How can you answer that question without seeing the first one first? If I love the first one, then obviously, I feel like it’s too long, the wait. If I hate the first one, I don’t think I’ll care to see the second. I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m just worried about the overconfidence. Interestingly enough though, given how far back the date’s been set, it does give them enough time, if they so choose, to shoot Mockingjay concurrently. You can’t possibly make Catching Fire and not make Mockingjay.
Am attaching stills that Lionsgate has recently released. Have begun thinking of Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta like Duckie in Pretty in Pink. It helps.
Photos courtesy Lionsgate
