Not long ago, we heard a report suggesting that Lionsgate is planning on developing more Hunger Games sequels (or prequels, maybe), which makes sense given the franchise’s vast global success. Josh Hutcherson appeared on Conan O’Brien’s show with Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth to promote The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, where he added fuel to the sequel rumor fire.
In addition to being an Oscar-winning actress and the lead of a billion-dollar movie franchise in The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence can now add best-selling singer to her resume. The song “The Hanging Tree” was performed by Lawrence in Mockingjay — Part 1 and later released to radio stations where it debuted at #12 on the Hot 100, and on iTunes where it sold over 1 million copies. This are just some of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which travels to District 13 for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay!
For the past two years, ‘The Hunger Games’ movies have topped the yearly box-office charts, beating two Marvel movies (‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’) without the help of 3D ticket sales. Well, today Lionsgate announced that ‘Mockingjay, Part 2’ will be released in IMAX and 3D, which should put it squarely in the running with ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ and ‘Avengers 2’ as the biggest movie of 2015.
‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1’ is a movie comprised almost entirely of deleted scenes. As it says right in the title, this isn’t the final chapter of ‘The Hunger Games’ series; it’s just the first half of the final chapter, and that’s exactly what it feels like. It’s table setting for a meal that won’t be served until next November. ‘Mockingjay - Part 1’ is good-looking, well-acted, and utterly inessential.