Everyone had resigned themselves to the fact that 91裸聊视频淭he Hunger Games91裸聊视频� ended in 2015. The four-film blockbuster franchise had made nearly $3 billion at the global box office and helped Jennifer Lawrence skyrocket to superstardom.
But Suzanne Collins91裸聊视频� Katniss Everdeen saga was over. And, frankly, everyone, including Collins, director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson, was eager to take a break and do something else.
For several years after 91裸聊视频� ,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淗unger Games91裸聊视频�-related text conversations between Lawrence and Collins rarely went past sending one another screenshots of their films on Jeopardy categories. Then, in 2019, Jacobson and Lawrence got a call: Collins was putting the finishing touches on something new, a prequel set 64 years before Katniss volunteered as tribute.
It would be focused on a young Coriolanus Snow, and there would be a big musical element.
arrives in theaters nationwide Friday at another transitional moment in Hollywood, where and, for the first time in a long time, .
And while the team was excited about the possibility of working together again, there were some nerves about whether or not there was an appetite for Hunger Games movies 91裸聊视频渨ithout Katniss,91裸聊视频� Lawrence told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
But this was all before they91裸聊视频檇 laid eyes on the book.
Both Lawrence and Jacobson were soon brought into Collins91裸聊视频� agent91裸聊视频檚 office, seated in a locked room and given the book to read. To their relief, suddenly the Katniss problem didn91裸聊视频檛 seem so important anymore, and soon they were off to Lionsgate to get it off the ground.
91裸聊视频淲e were excited to be able to dive into something that didn91裸聊视频檛 feel like a rehash,91裸聊视频� Jacobson said. 91裸聊视频淚t didn91裸聊视频檛 feel like we were trying to imitate the previous movies.91裸聊视频�
For Lawrence, it 91裸聊视频渇elt like a 91裸聊视频楬unger Games91裸聊视频� story91裸聊视频� but also something unique, 91裸聊视频渨ith new thematic foundations.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚nstead of a girls91裸聊视频� survival story, it was a young man91裸聊视频檚 descent into darkness,91裸聊视频� Lawrence said. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 an origin story about a major character and also the series itself.91裸聊视频�
As with the first film, Lawrence and Jacobson wanted to find fresh young talents to lead the franchise 91裸聊视频� not a TikTok star or someone already famous in another part of the world 91裸聊视频� and surround them with veteran actors. In this case, those established names would include Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Jason Schwartzman.
They found their young Snow, played in the original films by Donald Sutherland, via taped submission. The English actor Tom Blyth entered the running rather late and quickly became the frontrunner, beating out hundreds for the role.
91裸聊视频淗e just blew everybody out of the water,91裸聊视频� Lawrence said. 91裸聊视频淗e has a charisma, he has the right physical attributes. He91裸聊视频檚 Juilliard trained. He really knows his craft. He was going to be able to give us all the emotional values we need for the character91裸聊视频檚 journey. And he felt like a star.91裸聊视频�
For Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 tribute Snow is assigned to mentor for the 10th Hunger Games, Lawrence already had someone in mind. Like many film fans, he was transfixed by 91裸聊视频檚 film debut as Maria in Steven Spielberg91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淲est Side Story91裸聊视频� and persuaded her to co-star. It wasn91裸聊视频檛 a hard sell: 91裸聊视频淭he Hunger Games91裸聊视频� were already a big part of Zegler91裸聊视频檚 life having grown up with the books and the movies, which she and her mom and sister made events out of.
91裸聊视频淎s somebody who loves to call herself a fan first before anything else, the greatest gift you can get is more to the story,91裸聊视频� Zegler said. 91裸聊视频淩ather than seeing it as a pressure cooker just waiting to explode, I see it as a really big blessing.91裸聊视频�
Blyth, in his first starring role in Hollywood, felt some pressure. But he found comfort in the material they were working with.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e lucky to be adapting a book that91裸聊视频檚 really good,91裸聊视频� Blyth said. 91裸聊视频淪uzanne writes these big thinking pieces that are approachable for teenagers and younger people, which I think is a genuinely honorable feat 91裸聊视频� someone who wants to try and bring bigger ideas to young people while also entertaining them.91裸聊视频�
Filming took place largely in Germany. The production looked to reconstruction-era Berlin for aesthetic and thematic inspiration for this post-war capitol that91裸聊视频檚 rebuilding and on tenuous political ground. And Trish Summerville was also brought back to design the ornate costumes, which include some Easter eggs for fans hidden in Lucy91裸聊视频檚 hand-painted corset.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 this spectacle to the whole world,91裸聊视频� Blyth said. 91裸聊视频淭he whole thing is about spectacle. It91裸聊视频檚 about being distracted by beautiful things while everything else is going on.91裸聊视频�
But even while creating a new world, the filmmakers were disciplined about the budget. Instead of resting on laurels and precedent 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淢ockingjay Part 291裸聊视频� had a $160 million price tag 91裸聊视频� they kept theirs to a reported $100 million.
91裸聊视频淲e were very mindful that this was not a sequel but a prequel with a new cast,91裸聊视频� Jacobson said. 91裸聊视频淲e wanted to make sure that we were making this movie at a price that that made sense.91裸聊视频�
It91裸聊视频檚 easy to forget that not everyone in Hollywood thought that they had a blockbuster in their hands at the beginning. Back in 2009, when Jacobson and her production company ColorForce acquired the rights to adapt Collins91裸聊视频� YA series, there was widespread skepticism about young adult material and about the appeal of female-fronted action movies that weren91裸聊视频檛 primarily romances.
91裸聊视频淚n the original series, we were able to take a lot of risks and really challenge a lot of industry assumptions,91裸聊视频� Jacobson said. 91裸聊视频淭he most important thing in this go-around was to still take those risks and not be playing it safe 91裸聊视频� to still feel like we91裸聊视频檙e making something that91裸聊视频檚 a bit on the subversive side.91裸聊视频�
With its moral ambiguity and complicated characters, Jacobson thinks it might even be the kind of movie that audiences want to discuss and debate afterward. In the past year, she added, a lot of young people have discovered the franchise on streaming who will hopefully join established fans at the theater for 91裸聊视频淭he Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 hopeful that it will be a shared cultural experience and a communal experience at a time when we don91裸聊视频檛 have too many of those,91裸聊视频� Jacobson said. 91裸聊视频淲hen they do happen, as they have this year with movies as different as 91裸聊视频楤arbie91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频極ppenheimer,91裸聊视频� it certainly shows that if you give people a worthwhile and original story with some bold storytelling and a filmmaker with a voice, that they will show up.
91裸聊视频淎nd we hope to be part of that showing up.91裸聊视频�
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