Countdown to Third ‘Hunger Games’ Movie Begins

The eagerly anticipated third installment of the “Hunger Games” movie series will be out in theaters on November 21. “Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” features heroine Katniss Everdeen leading an army of rebels back in her home District 13 just after she has destroyed the Games forever. Peeta, who turns out is still alive, is in the capital being used as a weapon against the resistance.

As Katniss fights to determine the future of Panem, she struggles with who she can trust.

A preview of the new “Hunger Games” movie, released September 15, depicts Katniss and her allies engaged in a massive battle against Panem President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland. Katniss faces down an army with Gale Hawthorne (played by Liam Hemsworth) at her side, and the trailer shows them blowing up some fighter jets with nothing more than bows and arrows.

Previews of the film also show Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character, Plutarch Heavensbee. Hoffman died of a drug overdose after the second “Hunger Games” movie was released last summer. Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and other familiar faces also reprise their roles in the third “Hunger Games” installment.

The movie also features Julianne Moore as Alma Coin, president of District 13, in a bonus piece of star power.

The soundtrack of the new “Hunger Games” movie is still largely under wraps, but the theme song by singer Lorde, called “Yellow Flicker Beat” has been announced and released. Past soundtracks included work by Kid Cudi, Taylor Swift, Arcade Fire, Of Monsters and Men, and The National.

Jennifer Lawrence was in the press extensively over the summer as one of the victims of a celebrity phone hacking scandal that led to the illegal publication of nude photos of her online. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lawrence actually said she was nervous about how the leaked photos would impact her professionally. In her most famous role as Katniss in the “Hunger Games” movies, Lawrence is known for being fully clothed rather than showing the gratuitous bits of skin that Hollywood is so infamous for, particularly with female actors.

“I was just so afraid,” she said in her Vanity Fair interview. “I didn’t know how this would affect my career.”

The multi-series “Hunger Games” movies are based on the 2008 trilogy of bestselling books by author Suzanne Collins. The first two “Hunger Games” films grossed about $777 million worldwide in box office sales alone. The cleverly told story in “Hunger Games” is an intentional parallel for youth violence told in the voice of the main protagonist, Katniss.

[Image Via melty.fr]