It takes a lot to get me to accept anybody's book recommendations. Movies are one thing. That's two hours out of my life max, but a book can take me weeks or months to finish because I'm so busy. But I had heard so much from my colleagues and friends about how great Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games
was that my resolve had started to crack. Even though I've been covering the news of Gary Ross's film adaptation of the novel for months and am actually pretty excited over it, I couldn't shake the feeling that the story just sounded like someone took the awesome manga(and film) Battle Royale
and made it American. That didn't sound appealing to me at all. Boy was I wrong. I started reading the book just a few days ago on the way to Hawaii, and within five pages I was hooked on the story of Katniss Everdeen and the hopeless world she's forced to live in. For those that don't know, The Hunger Games takes place in a future post-apocalyptic world where a central government rules over a dozen districts. Some of these districts are poorer than others, bordering on extreme levels of poverty. Katniss lives in District 12, the poorest of all, with every day being a fight to find food to sustain her struggling family: her little sister, Prim, and her mother. Every year, the government forces each district to elect two "tributes", one boy and one girl, to enter the Hunger Games, where they are all forced to kill each other until only one stands. Without giving too much away, Katniss ends up a contestant along with another acquaintance from her district, Peeta Mellark.
The casting for the film has been the biggest in all of Hollywood, surpassing even that of The Dark Knight Rises if you ask me. The most important casting was Katniss, with Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence(Winter's Bone
) getting the nod. This caused a ton of controversy from folks because Lawrence is...well, quite a whitey. Katniss is described as having long black hair and olive skin, but I've found her appearance so far to be a non-issue in the book. At least nothing that can't be fixed for the screen. When the book wants to, it's VERY clear about the race of it's characters, so the fact that Katniss isn't flatly described by race leads me to believe it's meant to be flexible. My only complaint is that Lawrence is too old for the part, which kneecaps one of the book's primary angles. These are teens(some are even 12 years old) killing each other, not adults. I need to see how that plays out in the end.The next two major roles filled were equally competitive. Josh Hutcherson nailed down the major role of Peeta Mellark, the other District 12 tribute and possible love interest/enemy to Katniss. Seemed like an odd choice to me, but Hutcherson is a more than capable actor. Liam Hemsworth signed to play Gale Hawthorne, Katniss's long time best friend. That left a ton of possibly huge roles left to fill. The Hunger Games is going to be, in my opinion anyway, as big if not bigger than Twilight in terms of bulit-in audience, but it also has a much broader appeal. Whoever gets cast in this franchise is going to be set for a long time.
Not long after I left, Elizabeth Banks(Zack and Miri
) was cast as Effie Trinket, the sorta aimless and bubble-headed chaperon for the District 12 tributes before the Games begin. The amazing part is that while reading I was imagining Banks in the role. She's excellent at playing dumb, but can get deathly serious when the time calls for it, much like Effie's character. Effie is probably my favorite character in the book at this point(I'm only halfway done), because even though she seems clueless, there's a lot more going on beneath the surface.Perhaps the biggest non-tribute role in the film is that of Haymitch Abernathy, the drunken former winner who now serves as a mentor to all District 12 tributes. Think of him as a really effed up Yoda, dispensing advice through a fog of liquor and vomit. In an exciting bit of potential casting, Vulture reports a rumor that John C. Reilly is in talks for the role. While reading, I kept picturing Billy Burke, probably because he just played a drunkard in Red Riding Hood, but Reilly is a much better choice. While the role has it's share of laughs, Haymitch is a pretty dark character. Think about what he has to do year after year and you might understand why. Reilly can do dark(Gangs of New York
, Hard Eight
), but his likability will also be key. Reilly recently tried his hand in another young adult film adaptation, The Vampire's Assistant
, but that doesn't come close to comparing.The catalyst for pretty much everything that happens in The Hunger Games is Katniss's sister, Primrose Everdeen. A slight, delicate 12 year old girl who sees her name put up for entry into the Games for the first time, Prim is the person Katniss cares for most in the world. Willow Shields, yet another unknown actress, will play her in the film. Her role is expected to get much bigger in subsequent flicks, but until I read them I can't say how for certain. Paula Malcomson(Caprica
) will play Katniss and Prim's beleaguered mother, who has let herself go after the sudden death of her husband. It's her inability to cope that forces Katniss to take the leadership role in the family. Dayo Okeniyi will play Thresh, the hulking loner from District 11. Amanda Stenberg will be Rue, another District 11 tribute. Rue is a quick, stealthy little girl, approximately the same size as Katniss's sister, Prim. She and Katniss form something of an alliance in the Games.
District 11 is one of the poorer locales, but the next two castmates are for the wealthy District 1. Jack Quaid(the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan) will make his feature film debut as Marvel. His name is never actually mentioned until the 2nd book. Leven Rambin(All My Children
) will play Glimmer, the long blond-haired tribute who joins the other "careers" in an alliance to kill off the weak. So that's six tributes down, 18 to go! Plus there are a number of other pivotal characters that simply can't be ignored, such as Cinna, the stylist who becomes a friend to both Katniss and Peeta; President Snow(how about Larry King? Or Regis Philibin?); and Katniss's friend Madge Undersee.
At the rate the film has been getting cast over the last week, I don't expect it'll take long for the 20+ other roles to get filled before shooting begins. March 23rd, 2012 has been laid down as the date we can all expect to see The Hunger Games hit the screen. So what do you think of the casting so far? Do you agree? Are you excited for it?
