And The District 5 Tributes Have Been Announced!

Yes, that's right!  The reaping continues for District 5 as Chris Mark and Jacqueline Emerson are cast as "tribute boy" and Foxface.

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Elizabeth Banks As Effie Trinket!

Elizabeth Banks has recently announced her next big role ... in The Hunger Games!  She will be playing the part of Effie Trinket, Katniss' (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta's (Josh Hutcherson) Capitol escort.  With all these castings, my excitement for this movie grows and grows!  Here's an email that was sent to HungerGamesMovie.org from Lionsgate:

IT’S OFFICIAL: ELIZABETH BANKS CAST AS EFFIE TRINKET IN LIONSGATE’S THE HUNGER GAMES

LOS ANGELES, CA, April 28, 2011- Lionsgate® and the filmmakers of THE HUNGER GAMES are pleased to announce that Elizabeth Banks (SEABISCUIT, 30 ROCK, W, SPIDERMAN, THE NEXT THREE DAYS, THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN) has been cast in the role of Effie Trinket in the much anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ worldwide smash hit novel.

Banks joins a cast of talented young actors – Jennifer Lawrence as series heroine Katniss Everdeen with Willow Shields as little sister Primrose, and Josh Hutcherson, who was cast as Peeta Mellark, with Liam Hemsworth in the role of Gale Hawthorne.  Amandla Stenberg was cast in the role of Rue, Dayo Okeniyi as her District 11 partner Thresh, and Leven Rambin and Jack Quaid as District 1’s Glimmer and Marvel round out the cast of the fellow tributes drafted to join Katniss and Peeta in the arena.  Paula Malcomson will be playing Katniss and Primrose’s mother.

Effie Trinket is a perennially perky handler assigned by the Capitol to escort and advise tributes  Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Melark  as they prepare for the Hunger Games.  From the day Katniss volunteers to take little sister Prim’s place, Effie maintains a freakishly breezy disposition and an obsession with etiquette and punctuality that masks a growing attachment to these two young tributes.

The Hunger Games is a worldwide fan phenomenon, the novel having been on the New York Times best seller list for over 130 consecutive weeks. The film chronicles Katniss Everdeen’s defiant struggle to survive in a future dystopia where The Capitol requires its twelve subjugated districts to atone for their onetime insurrection through the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death event held in a fantastical man made arena.  Although persevering through extreme hardship is commonplace for the audacious heroine, she is forced to make choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home to District 12.

THE HUNGER GAMES will be directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik.  Collins’ best-selling novel, which has over 3 million copies in print in the United States alone, is the first in a trilogy of science fiction/action novels which have developed a global following.
Lionsgate will release “The Hunger Games” on March 23, 2012.

District 3 Trubites Are Cast!

And the District 3 Tributes have been cast!  Although these two characters' names are not mentioned in the book, we are finally given something about them.  Ian Nelson and Kalia Prescott are the lucky actors given the roles!

They may go unnamed in Suzanne Collins' dystopian thriller, but now you can put faces (and names) to the actors portraying District 3's tributes: Meet Ian Nelson and Kalia Prescott! 

The duo will represent Panem's electronics-producing region (a background that comes in handy for the male tribute during the Games). As you can guess, since neither tribute is named, these two don't play a huge part in the frenzied fight, but as I've alluded, you'll want to keep your eye on Ian's character, for sure. 

As is the case with many of the tributes thus far in "The Hunger Games," Ian and Kalia are green in the Hollywood scene. In fact, the majority of Kalia's screen credits are as a stunt girl (very fitting for this particular production, no?). According to her resume, Kalia also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. (We certainly wouldn't want to face her in the Arena!)

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John C. Reilly in Talks to Play Haymitch

John C. Reilly has been offered the role as Haymitch in The Hunger Games, out in theatres 3/24/2012.  I think he'd be a great fit for the character; however, I pictured someone more like Robert Downey Jr.  What are your thoughts?

Loaded question: Who plays a paunchy, pathetic drunk better than John C. Reilly? Actually, that’s a bit of a trick, because the answer, of course, is no one. And for that reason, we’re told it will be the Oscar-nominated Reilly who’ll be soon be getting the offer to play Haymitch Abernathy in the forthcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Gamesat Lionsgate Films. 

If you’ve read Collins’s bestselling book, you already know that Abernathy is the only living person from Panem’s District 12 to ever win The Hunger Games, and now serves as a mentor, albeit an alcoholic one, to district tributes Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). And if you haven’t read the book, well, then you have no earthly idea what we just said, but this site can help you get up to speed. 

We’re also told that Reilly had been in talks to join Disney’s Oz, the Great and the Powerful as the sidekick to James Franco’s Wizard character, but that those talks had stalled; now we know why.

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Paula Malcomson Cast As Mrs. Everdeen

A new actress, Paula Malcomson, has joined the Hunger Games cast as Katniss and Prim's mother.  She looks like a good pick, although I don't know much about her (another unknown?).

Paula Malcomson has officially been cast as the mother of Katniss and Prim Everdeen in The Hunger Games, according to a press release from Lionsgate. The widowed and down-trodden Mrs. Everdeen — a victim of the totalitarian government ofGames‘ dystopian future — required “an actress with some gravitas,” said producer Nina Jacobson, “someone who could really transport herself, and audiences, to a place as tough as District 12.” Malcomson has an impressive TV resume, including starring roles in Capricaand Deadwood and a recurring part on Sons of Anarchy, but Games marks her first major movie role. Malcomson joins a cast that already includes Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne.

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Possible Set Locations

IMDb.com has several possible set locations posted, all in North Carolina.  Some of the cities include: Asheville, Charlotte, Shelby, and Wilmington.  I wonder if they will include Colorado in the list of locations (since the Capitol is described as being located in The Rockies).

Can't you imagine this being the Arena?

Although many sites list the movie to being shooting in April, The Hunger Games is listed to start filming May 23-Sept 3, 2011.  From living in the South my whole life, I can sympathize with how brutal the heat will be during this time of the year.  I can't wait to start seeing set pics!

Peeta and Gale Have Been Cast!

Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson have been cast as Gale and Peeta.  I wouldn't have cast these roles better myself.

Josh (Peeta) and Liam (Gale)

The love triangle is complete. Lionsgate announced on April 4 that it had cast two key players in director Gary Ross' highly anticipated film adaptation — due out March 23, 2012 — of the Suzanne Collins YA thriller The Hunger Games. Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) and Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song) will flank Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen throughout the trilogy. Presumably both actors will dye their hair to appease Collins' vigilant fans. 

Hutcherson, 18, was tapped for the role of Peeta, Katniss' fellow District 12 tribute who accompanies her into the titular reality TV battle-to-the-death. Hemsworth, 21, will play her childhood friend, Gale. ''It's very easy to be in the camp of 'Oh, I'm a Peeta person' or 'I'm a Gale person,' '' producer Nina Jacobson tells EW. ''I think Gary understands what Katniss sees in both of them and knows how to build a movie which is both an epic adventure but also a very intimate love story.'' 

When EW sat down with the affable Hutcherson at March's South by Southwest film festival, he spoke to us about what a thrill it would be to win the role every man of a certain age in Hollywood wanted. ''That would be very, very cool,'' he gushed. ''I love Peeta. The character is so much who I am — self-deprecating, a people person. There's a lot of things that I see of myself in Peeta. And he's such a great character! Like in the third book, oh my God. One can only dream.'' 

With production eyeing a late-May start date, Hunger Games fans can look forward to a steady stream of casting news. ''We're very, very close,'' Ross told EW recently.

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District 11 Tributes Have Been Cast

The next two tributes have been announced .. although this isn't quite like the reaping .. is it?  Dayo Okeniyi and Amanda Stenberg have been cast as Thresh and Rue.  All these castings are getting me VERY excited for the movie!

The Hunger Games adaptation has already found its District 12 tributes in Jennifer Lawrence(Katniss) and Josh Hutcherson(Peeta). Now, Lionsgate has set its sights on District 11: EW has confirmed exclusively that the studio has cast Hollywood newcomers Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg as Thresh and Rue in the adaptation of the Suzanne Collins trilogy, directed by Gary Ross. Okeniyi, playing the intimidatingly strong tribute, has appeared in a short calledEyes to See and an upcoming horror film, Slew Hampshire. Stenberg, who is on board as Katniss’ arena ally Rue, has roles in the September’s Colombiana and the telefilm Taste of Romance.

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Willow Shields Cast As Prim Everdeen

Willow Shields has just been cast as Prim Everdeen in the upcoming The Hunger Games movie, out in theatres Mar. 23, 2012!  This actress is a newcomer to the movie business.  You can catch her in her most recent movie this Sunday! 

Katniss Everdeen may be the heroine of Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" trilogy, but if it weren't for the 16-year-old's little sister Primrose (nicknamed Prim), the events of the series would have never unfolded. So we're pretty excited to finally find out who will play the 12-year-old originally slated for the Hunger Games before Katniss took her place. 

Much like this week's other "Hunger Games" additions, Willow is a relative unknown. Her weightiest credit thus far seems to be an appearance on an episode of "In Plain Sight."
In a statement released by Lionsgate, director Gary Ross praised the New Mexico native, saying, "It’s so exciting to find an amazing young actress like the one we just met. Prim is an emotionally demanding role and in many ways she is the cornerstone of the story. Willow Shields will make an amazing Prim and we’re very lucky to have her." 

With her sweet face and cute braids, Willow looks like she's more than ready to step into the dystopian world of Panem as Prim. We approve! 

The actress joins a rapidly growing cast that already includes Jennifer Lawrence (as big sis Katniss), Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Amandla Stenberg, Dayo Okeniyi, Leven Rambin and Jack Quaid.

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