January 30, 2013

Jennifer Lawrence Talks About Shooting Catching Fire in Hawaii (Video)

In a recent visit to the TV program Live with Kelly and Michael,  Jennifer Lawrence gushed about her experiences while filming Catching Fire in the beautiful island of Hawaii. Watch the video below and enjoy Jen's unique way of answering questions during the interview.




January 29, 2013

Aerial View of the Cornucopia and Tribute Parade Sets in Atlanta

According to Perez Hilton, there are a couple of aerial shots that were placed on the Google Maps. The shots featured the sets of the Cornucopia and the Tribute Parade that are used in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" in Atlanta. Take a look at the image below:


January 26, 2013

Catching Fire Reportedly Filming At Ringwood State Park New Jersey

NorthJersey.com has reported that there will be additional scenes for Catching Fire that will be shot in Ringwood State Park and Ramapo Mountain State Forest. GGX Productions has secured permit for filming in these locations under the name "The Idiom." In case you don't know, the project name for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" was "The Idiom." GGX was the company who's in charge with some Catching Fire casting calls. Accordingly, the shot will be on Tuesday and Friday.



According to them, there were already semi trailers that were unloading equipments that will be used for  the filming. You can read the rest of the report here.

What's your thoughts? What do you think will be shot here?

UPDATES: According to reports, the opening scenes between Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) will be shot here. Hmm are you excited to see Gale kissing Katniss? Do you remember that part when you read the book?

January 23, 2013

Francis Lawrence on Major Catching Fire Changes from Book to Movie, His Favorite Scene and a lot more

MTV's Hollywood Crush has an exclusive interview with Francis Lawrence, the director of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." In the recent interview, the director talked about the major changes from book to film, his most loved scene (s) and the spinning arena.



Major changes on the book:

 “No, not really, I would say that it’s a really faithful adaptation. You know, whenever you’re adapting something that’s a 12- or 14-hour read down to something that has to be around two hours, there’s going to be some cuts. We definitely made some cuts. I don’t want to go into that, but we did it with Suzanne, and I would say that it’s very, very faithful. We tried to get as much as we could in there.”

   Favorite scenes in the movie:

“It’s interesting because there’s a very small blur—I want to say it’s a paragraph long in the book—but the moment in the arena when the gamemaker starts to spin the cornucopia, and I’m very proud of that. We designed a very cool sequence and created a spinning island, and that’s going to be very, very cool. So that’s kind of fun and very unique. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s cool.

  “You know one of the very first things we shot that I like quite a lot is, there is sort of a goodbye before she goes into the arena with Liam that I like a lot. And it was actually—we shot it because we needed summer foliage and summer flowers and things like that. We actually shot it while we were in prep. Very first thing we sort of went out into the meadow, out in the mountains in north Georgia and shot this sequence over three or four hours or so, and I really like it. I think it’s really nice. Jennifer and Liam are really good in it. It’s very nice.”

January 22, 2013

Francis Lawrence On Gary Ross, Finnick, Haymitch, Gary Ross, and Arena Scenes in Catching Fire

In a recent interview with MTV, Francis Lawrence talked about a lot of Catching Fire things including the way he incorporated his style with Gary Ross from "The Hunger Games," working with the cast, arena scenes and the character development of Finnick and Haymitch.

On Gary Ross' Style and Working with the Cast



"I liked what Gary did a lot, but I have a different style than he does," Lawrence explained. "So it was very easy for me to come in the room and sit down with the people involved in the movie and sort of say, 'Here's what I like about what Gary did that I would latch on to and hold onto and embrace, and here's the way I would do it differently.' The trickier thing, honestly for me, was sort of stepping into a world, and there's crew members that were on the first movie, obviously an entire cast, all the people that are returning that I inherited. I was nervous about what they were going to feel... I think everybody in general was really gracious and worked really hard and ended up being really fun to work with. I think there were a couple of people that were really bummed that Gary wasn't doing it, and it had less to do with the choice of me coming on than just Gary not doing it. They signed on with Gary; they're friends with Gary; they like Gary. And I think there was definitely some sadness there."
On Sam and Finnick 


"[Claflin] is very athletic, which is great. He's in great shape. He's very charismatic," Lawrence said. "But I was also looking in the long term. There's kind of a rouge-like quality to him in this book. And long term, he's actually an emotional character and a very loyal character and a character who's in love; a character who experienced quite a lot of sadness. And he was really able to tap into that, as well as being really charming and sexy and handsome as hell."
On Haymitch



"One of the things that we wanted to dive into a little more... is the whole idea of PTSD, and one of the big things for [author] Suzanne[Collins] is just sort of the idea of the consequences of war as kind of one of the backbone theme of the entire series," Lawrence said. "One of the things I really like about this book is you start to see kind of why Haymitch is the way he is, why people are the way they are, so he and I did a fair amount of work in terms of that, in terms of understanding PTSD and how to work with somebody with post-traumatic stress. Also we started messing around a lot with some real humanity in Haymitch because he can be quite cynical and sarcastic at times. But I think there's a more human side to him in this one as well.

Arena scenes
 


"The arena stuff is pretty tricky... just because the sort of center of the arena where the cornucopia exists and the water and the spokes. The circular beach with the jungle around it doesn't exist, so we have to sort of piece it all together," he explained. "And you know even though shooting in Hawaii sounds like a lot of fun, it's pretty tricky when you're in the beach and waves and tides. Our set got washed away one day by the tide, and then... shooting in the jungle where there's bugs and mud and rain. The days are short, so you don't have much time, and you're starting to lug around 100-pound IMAX cameras."

UPDATE: In a separate interview, Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed to Belfast UK that they will reshoot Catching Fire by March.

January 21, 2013

Sam Claflin Talks About Finnick, His Costars and More Catching Fire Experiences

Future Radio UK has interviewed Sam Claflin and the British actor has a lot to tell about Catching Fire. Find out from the excerpt below or if you wanted to hear Sam's voice, head over to this site.

On his character Finnick:

I mean for me, I was already kinda cast! He definitely stuck out somewhat but for all the wrong reasons. Very selfishly, that was the only character I really cared about [laughs]. But the great thing about the books is that Suzanne Collins created these great arcs for each and every character, no matter, I mean from Katniss all the way down to her sister, to her mother. You know, each character goes on a journey. And I think that’s what’s so riveting about the books themselves.

 On meeting the expectations of fans:
 I mean I have to say the pressure is on. I mean, I’m a member of Twitter and especially when it was first announced there was a huge backlash. Some positive and some very negative. You know people were sort of saying they wanted to kill themsleves and that I wasn’t anywhere near good-looking enough. Everyone has their own perceptions of what a good-looking person is and basically all I can do is do my best and you know, you have to kind of not read the bad press or whatever. You have to keep focusing and working hard and the moment you channel that out I just had fun really. And it was hard work, it was definitely, definitely hard work. I was eating chicken and asparagus twice a day, every day. Not including all the other meals I was forced to have each day. And then working out two or three times a day. I didn’t really have a life but when I was on set there was a great dynamic between the cast and crew and when you’re on a set in the middle of Hawaii, you don’t really care about what other people think [laughs]. I enjoyed the moment when I was in the moment. You know, I’m still reading negative feedback but what can I do – I can’t change my face! [laughs]

On meeting Director Francis Lawrence:
He was one of the first people I met when I arrived in America. And we had a sit down, we talked through the script, about the novels, about the previous film. I know he wasn’t the director on that but we talked about the flaws and ways of improving or developing the characters’ arc. And obviously the unfortunate thing about a film version is that they are trying to make this accessible to a younger audience, therefore there are certain aspects that you can’t include. One being Finnick Odair wearing just the net or just a knot covering his crotch. That was something that we couldn’t, unfortunately, include. But, you know, I’m scantily clad and hopefully people will still be happy!

On working with his costars:

It’s one of these things that gets through you, goes straight through you. I mean, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, even with Jennifer Lawrence who’s just won a Golden Globe and what have you! I am lucky enough to be surrounded by some of the best actors that are living.

On the accidents in filming Catching Fire:
There really has. This is a question I don’t really know how much I can talk about. I was specifically asked not to mention some of the accidents that happened on set. All to do with me, I have to say… Let’s just say I am a very, very clumsy person. There was fall, after fall, after fall, after fall. We basically, me and Francis the director, we were laughing that there would be a DVD extra, a whole DVD on it’s own for the blooper reel – just for me! Because every time he’d say action, just before we had to a fight, I would flip over or fall. And even when I was standing still I’d manage to fall over. There were plenty of accidents.

January 15, 2013

Toby Jones: Catching Fire Has Different Visual Sense Compared to "The Hunger Games"

In the recent Golden Globes, MTV has interviewed Toby Jones, who plays arena announcer and Caesar Flickerman's partner Claudius Templesmith. Mr. Jones was able to share some Catching Fire bits as well as about his character on the film.

On the difference between "The Hunger Games" director Gary Ross and "Catching Fire" director Francis Lawrence:

"It's a very different rhythm he works at. A whole different visual sense that people will be excited about," Jones told MTV. "There's a whole different way of showing the film that I can't really talk about. There's a very interesting way that they're going to dramatize the Games themselves."

On her small screen appearance on Catching Fire:

"I'm afraid so," Jones said when asked if his role in the new "Hunger Games" film is the same size as it was in the first one. "I'm there because my kids love the book. There's no huge revelation about my character. My kids are happy that I'm in the film. It means they get to go touch the hem of Jennifer Lawrence's garment. That's why I'm there!"

Paula Malcomson Calls Mrs. Everdeen Clara

Paula Malcomson, who plays Katniss' mother in "The Hunger Games" has chatted recently with ET and she talked about the development of her character throughout the series. She also talked about giving her a first name. (In case you don't know, in the books, author Suzanne Collins didn't give any first name to Mrs. Everdeen).

On Mrs. Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire:"

“In the first movie, I was doing it for real. I didn’t want to show up and be all pretty. I wanted to go in there and be hungry, be oppressed. I quickly realized I was acting like I was in a different film from the rest of the cast [laughs]. I just think there’s a heaviness that I was bringing that I don’t know if it was the story they were trying to tell in this. But there’s such a great character progression with her. She has this rebirth throughout the series, so I play it out in my head a lot.”
On Mrs. Everdeen's first name:

"I named her Clara,” she tells ETonline. “I don’t know why, but that just came to me. 


Mrs. Everdeen and Prim in Catching Fire


Official Catching Fire Poster and HQ Stills (No Watermark) Plus Facebook Cover Photos

Lionsgate is very generous to us as they have released the official poster of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (even though most of us have seen it already). They also released HQ stills of Catching Fire but they were similar to the ones featured in EW magazine. The huge film studio also released various Facebook cover photos for fans.









January 14, 2013

Taylor Swift on Writing "Safe and Sound" for The Hunger Games

Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars were able to get Golden Globe nominations for their contribution to the "The Hunger Games" soundtrack, which is entitled "Safe and Sound."  Unfortunately, they were not able to bring home the award since it was given to Adele for Skyfall. Anyway, Ryan Seacreast of E! Online was able to chat with Taylor Swift and the country sweetheart was able to describe the heart of the song. Find out below.


“This is a song that you wrote, not about yourself, because you’ve got to write about something else,” E!’s Ryan Seacrest pointed out to the Best Original Song nominee for “Safe and Sound” from The Hunger Games.

“For a change!” agreed Swift, looking lovely in deep purple Donna Karan Atelier, about the novelty of such an idea.

“It was interesting, because Lionsgate Films came to us and said, ‘We want you to write from Katniss’ point of view, we want you to completely understand her and come from where she’s coming from and we were given such an amazing opportunity to do that,” Swift gushed, “by Suzanne Collins, who wrote the book, and Jennifer Lawrence, who portrayed Katniss.”

“My cowriters, the Civil Wars and T Bone Burnett, were amazing,” she added. “We had this idea that we wanted the song to be about the empathy that goes into this film and the undertones of sympathy and human compassion that go along with such an incredible film with all this action and fighting in it. 
“We wanted to highlight the fact that there’s a lot of heart beneath that.”

January 13, 2013

Entertainment Weekly (EW) Magazine Scans - Catching Fire Issue

Thanks to Hunger Games DWTC for sharing the iPad edition of Entertainment Weekly (EW) Catching Fire issue.











January 12, 2013

Jennifer Lawrence Won Critic's Choice Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie for The Hunger Games (VIDEO)

Here is a video featuring Jennifer Lawrence's acceptance of Best Actress for Action Movie during the Critic's Choice Award. Enjoy.


Sam Claflin on His Finnick Training, Costume/Tanning, and the Sugar Cube Scene

Still from EW, Sam Claflin was able to share his experiences when filming "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which includes how he trained for the role. Read more below:



On Sam's Catching Fire training:

Claflin brings dimples and green eyes naturally to the role of Finnick. But to otherwise ready himself, he spent months eating nothing but chicken and asparagus. “It’s depressing,” he sighs. “I just want a burger and beer.” 

On his transformation - tanning and dying his hair

He dyed his hair blonde and endured the indignities of spray tanning. “Look at the tanlines on my fingers!” he says as he shows off his peeling brown knuckles. “I’m very English. I’m white. I mean I’m so pale. With spray tans they start peeling and start getting really dirty looking. It’s kind of lucky for the arena because I’m dirty a lot of the time but it’s not great with my shirt off at the moment.”

On the sugar cube scene with Katniss:

Claflin brings dimples and green eyes naturally to the role of Finnick. But to otherwise ready himself, he spent months eating nothing but chicken and asparagus. “It’s depressing,” he sighs. “I just want a burger and beer.” He dyed his hair blonde and endured the indignities of spray tanning. “Look at the tanlines on my fingers!” he says as he shows off his peeling brown knuckles. “I’m very English. I’m white. I mean I’m so pale. With spray tans they start peeling and start getting really dirty looking. It’s kind of lucky for the arena because I’m dirty a lot of the time but it’s not great with my shirt off at the moment.”
On the Catching Fire memorabilia he'd like to bring home:

Before the shoot wrapped on December 22, Claflin already knew what he wanted to bring home with him: The arena wet suit for his mother (“I kept my armor from my first role playing a knight and my mum bought a mannequin for it, so part of me wants to get the wet suit so she can have mannequins all over the house…”) and Finnick’s trident for above his own mantle. “Though I don’t know what my fiancée will think about the décor in our house.”

January 11, 2013

Catching Fire Update: Chracters Who Will Not Be in the Film; Sam's Casting as Finnick and A Lot More

In the exclusive Catching Fire issue of EW, fans will be delighted or be surprised to hear some tidbits about "The Hunger Games" sequel. The  news include the characters who will not be able to get into the film, casting, script, and a lot more. If you are unaware that there are new Catching Fire stills at the recent issue, you got to see them here

Jennifer Lawrence on her first conversation with Francis Lawrence: 

“He’s really smart, and he has a very gentle way about him. He’s really passionate about the book. It didn’t seem like he was just excited to make a huge movie.”

Jennifer on playing Katniss: 

Gary Ross told her Katniss is a hunter. “I didn’t feel like an action star, I didn’t feel like a superhero. I felt like a hunter. That helped keep it grounded in this reality of, she’s good at this not because shes a trained killer but because she a 16-year-old girl who happens to be great with her senses.”


Jennifer on her favorite day of Catching Fire filming:

“We were shooting on this beautiful beach, and there were sea turtles everywhere. In between takes Josh and Sam and I were running and jumping in the water. I was like, “I’m getting paid to do this?! This is awesome.”

Sam Claflin on his Finnick audition:

“Finnick is this tanned, green-eyed sex god. I’m thinking, ‘I’m brunet, I have loads of stubble’, and at the time I was by no means in shape. This guy walked in just after my audition who looked like Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise. I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to get this.’”

Nina Jacobson on casting Sam Claflin:

 “Sometimes you get someone with the swagger but not the soulfulness, or the other way around. Sam had both. He is such a sweet, sweet fellow.”

Francis Lawrence on creating a new vision: 

“I thought there were a lot of opportunities for the costumes, especially in the Capitol, to go crazy, to have fun, but in a very sophisticated way.” Enter The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo costume designer Trish Summerville. Lawrence also wanted to tinker with the cinematography (“It doesn’t always have to be desaturated and grey”) and brought in a new visual-effects supervisor, Janek Sirrs (The Avengers).

Nina Jacobson on getting Philip Seymour Hoffman on board: 

“We went and saw him on Broadway, where he was doing Death of a Salesman. It took a lot of patience to get him to focus and read the book, because we didn’t have a script yet. But we really wanted him because we wanted everybody to know that yes, it’s a new director, but our standards are just as high and we’re still aiming for Oscar-caliber actors.”

Michael Arndt and the script: 

“The first third of the book is a lot of zigzagging”, says Jacobson. “We go on tour, we’re at the Capitol, we’re back home, then Katniss spends a lot time in her head thinking”. Jacobson hired screenwriter Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) to streamline the story and enliven its emotional core. “Michael turned in a first draft, and suddenly you could see it all”, says Lawrence.”
 On the the characters that will not be in the movie:

Lawrence says he and Collins were always in agreement about what from the book needed to be distilled, though he was coy about cuts. When asked, for instance, whether we should expect to see Bonnie and Twill — the District 8 runaways Katniss stumbles upon in the woods who first alert her to both the rebellion she inadvertently sparked and the existence of District 13 — he at first demurred. “You’ve got to wait and see,” he urged. But when it was pointed out that there is in fact no Bonnie and Twill listed on the movie’s IMDB page, he gave it up. “Ah, right,” he said with a laugh. On how the movie will now introduce District 13, Lawrence would only say that “it was fun figuring out new ways around things and new ways of doing things.” With Bonnie and Twill gone, so too is the scene of Katniss scaling a tree and then leaping over District 12′s electrified fence. And Darius, District 12′s youngest peacekeeper who intervenes during Gale’s whipping and then sentenced to the life of an Avox, is another who didn’t make the leap from page to screen.
... and here's a brand new official behind the scene image from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, still from EW.

Liam Hemsworth, Francis Lawrence and Jennifer Lawrence on set of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Thanks EW and thehob.org

January 10, 2013

The Hunger Games Scoops Six People's Choice Award!

A very great time indeed for all Hunger Games fans. A while ago, we just see several movie stills of "Catching Fire," which will come out by November 22, 2013. You can see them all here.

Now, we have another reason to smile. The Hunger Games was able to scoop six awards out of seven nominations at the recent People's Choice Awards. The Hunger Games was not able to get the Favorite Movie Fan Following but it's okay since THG was able to get the following:

  1. Favorite Movie: The Hunger Games
  2. Favorite Action Movie: The Hunger Games
  3. Favorite Movie Franchise: The Hunger Games
  4. Favorite Movie Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
  5. Favorite Face of Heroism: Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
  6. Favorite On-Screen Chemistry: Jennifer Lawrence / Josh Hutcherson / Liam Hemsworth, The Hunger Games

The following are images from the event, courtesy of Just Jared.









And here are some acceptance videos from Youtube:

Jennifer accepting the Favorite Movie Actress award:



Jennifer, Josh and Liam accepting the Favorite Movie award:





January 09, 2013

First Official Look of Catching Fire From EW

What's up tributes? I know a lot of you are excited to see "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" this year. As a matter of fact, a lot of movie portals from Yahoo Movies to Fandango are already stating that Catching Fire is the most anticipated movie of the year, thanks to the undying support of fanatics! Anyway, the latest edition of EW features "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and they have some movie stills to share. See them below:

Finnick and Katniss at the EW cover

Finnick and Katniss at the training center

Gale with the peacemakers

Katniss and Peeta, victory tour

Mrs. Everdeen and prim


President Snow