After it seemed like Lionsgate had their focus set on casting the role of Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the last week has seen the attention shift dramatically towards Johanna Mason. She's the manipulative and deceptively vicious winner of a previous Hunger Games, forced back into the 75th competition alongside Katniss, Peeta, and a host of other former victors. Jena Malone and little known model/actress Zoe Aggeliki were the final two contenders in the running, and now that they've both auditioned, Lionsgate appears to have made a decision.
Deadline reports that Aggeliki looks to have taken the lead ahead of Malone, and has entered into heavier talks with the studio. You likely haven't seen her in anything, but she's a quickly rising star with a couple of major films on the horizon. She'll join Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges in R.I.P.D., and she's also set to play Silena Beauregard in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. This would be the biggest gig of her young career, as Mason plays a crucial role in Catching Fire and in Mockingjay.
If this pans out, and it's looking like it will, it could mean that Lionsgate will shoot for unknowns to fill some of the other major roles. We already know they're considering going that route to cast Finnick, and with so many characters in the film they'll have plenty of opportunities to bring aboard some new faces.
Francis Lawrence takes over the directing reins on Catching Fire, which is set for release on November 22nd 2013.
