'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' to Screen At Rome Film Festival

It looks like the just-announced Nov 14th Rome Premiere of Catching Fire will be at an out-of-competition screening at the Rome Film Festival. According to Deadline:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has its world premiere in London on November 11th. In a get for the Rome Film Festival, the Lionsgate pic will then travel to the Eternal City for an out-of-competition screening on November 14th. The eighth Rome fest runs from November 8th to 17th.

Check out how to win a trip to the Rome premiere of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and the details on the #TickTock10 sweepstakes here.

'Catching Fire' Gets an Early PG-13 Rating

No surprises here, but The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has been given a PG-13 rating from the MPAA according to Rope Of Silicon. The reason for the rating was lengthy:

Rated PG-13 For intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language.

Release Date: November 22, 2013

A suggestive situation, hmmmm? Let's guess which scene that is (I'm looking at you, Johanna).

The exciting thing about this to US is that SOMEONE HAS SEEN THE ENTIRE MOVIE!!!!

Thanks to our follower Steph Johnson (@Midwest1989)  for the excellent tip!

'Catching Fire' World Premiere In London Nov 11

Lucky, lucky London! To kick of the 100 Day Countdown to the release of Catching Fire, Lionsgate announced this morning that they will world premiere The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in London on November 11, 2013. Last year The Hunger Games made it's world premiere in Los Angeles with a fan camp out, fan events, a meet and greet with the cast and LOTS of press.

Catching Fire will open in the US on November 22nd.  

'Catching Fire' Unscripted: Submit Your Questions For The Cast To Moviefone

Moviefone is doing another one of their "Unscripted" Episodes with the cast of Catching Fire, and they want your questions! 

From Moviefone:
Katniss and Peeta step back into the arena for the Hunger Games Quarter Quell, and this time they are up against some deadly competition, namely, the charming Finnick and ruthless Johanna.

To help prepare you for the November 22 release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, MOVIEFONE is doing something special. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Sam Claflin, and Jena Malone (that's right, all four of them) will be joining Moviefone for a very Capitol-worthy episode of Unscripted, and they're giving you the chance to ask the cast anything you want!

You'll have until Sunday, August 4 at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit questions. Leave them in the comments on Moviefone's post, on Moviefone's Facebook wall, or via Twitter using the hashtag #unscriptedHG. Make sure to head back to Moviefone closer to the movie's release date to see if the Catching Fire cast answered your question!

May the odds be ever in your favor.

New Peeta Portrait & Lionsgate CMO Tim Palen Talks 'Catching Fire' Marketing

Peeta Mellark Photographed by Tim Palen

Check out this very interesting interview with Tim Palen, Chief Marketing Officer for Lionsgate. Tim spoke with RIPPmag's Jaqueline Miro about the marketing for Catching Fire. Palen sounds like a true renaissance man, photographing the marketing campaign HIMSELF and taking a completely hands-on approach to all aspects of the campaign. And yes, he DOES care what you guys think! I love this man. Read on:

By all accounts, Tim Palen is one of the catalysts of Lionsgate’s continuous growth at a critical time when film -- once deemed “spectacle for the masses” -- is becoming increasingly splintered into diverse audiences.

During his eleven-year tenure, Lionsgate Entertainment has experienced both a redefining of its mission, and a recrudescence in its audience. Lionsgate’s films have earned more than 40 Academy Award nominations and 10 Oscar wins, and Palen’s campaigns have received dozens of Key Art awards and other honors. Tim Palen does not feel comfortable claiming ownership of the title auteur, yet he is one of the most hands-on marketing execs in the business, conceptualizing campaigns, writing copy and even taking the photos that are used in the print campaigns for the movies he markets. The decisive moment of whether a movie works or not depends on the skill and intelligence with which all these elements are put together. And where a director has ninety minutes to tell a story, Tim has two and a half minutes max to flirt and seduce an audience.

From RIPPmag:

JM: HOW CHALLENGING WAS IT TO APPEAL TO A WIDE AUDIENCE IN A MOVIE LIKE THE HUNGER GAMES?

Tim Palen: There were a lot of challenges in marketing a beloved book especially knowing that it was the first of four films in a series. The best decision we made was to take our queues from the book – and we consider the words of Suzanne Collins to be our bible in marketing the film. The Hunger Games is a story about a reluctant hero who is forced into a world of violence and how institutionalized violence (i.e. war) changes everyone. One of the biggest  challenges fundamentally was how to handle the notion of kids killing kids. The books do not glorify violence and Katniss is not a killer. Sensationalizing that aspect of the story would be contrary to the core message of the books and we believed that it would be alienating to a huge part of the audience that love the books and that would love the movie.

JM: WHAT WAS THE FIRST CAMPAIGN YOU SHOT? CAN YOU TALK ABOUT A RECENT SHOOT AND HOW YOUR PROCESS WORKS?

Tim Palen: Most recently I shot the campaign for HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE. Because I also shot the campaign for the first HUNGER GAMES I have gotten to know the talent and there’s a certain level of trust and familiarity that has added a level of magic to the campaigns.

As a general rule, a photographer has a short window of time to connect with an actor and make them feel comfortable and safe and taken care of – most times it’s a matter of hours from the time they show up at the studio for hair/makeup before you have to dive right in. I think that’s one of the advantages of my job – I get to connect with the people I’m working with on a more intimate level than most marketing executives. It’s something I’m grateful for and something I never take for granted.

JM: WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC QUALIFIERS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WITH YOUR NEXT MARKETING CAMPAIGN…YOU JUST RELEASED THE FIRST TEASER FOR CATCHING FIRE(WHICH GOT OVER 28M VIEWS IN A LITTLE OVER A WEEK) BUT I’M SURE THERE WERE MANY CHALLENGES.

Tim Palen: The launch of the teaser trailer for CATCHING FIRE was a hugely pivotal moment in the ongoing HUNGER GAMES campaign. Because we have a franchise across four films, each piece is just part of the larger puzzle, and this step was even more crucial because we had such great success on the first film. At the same time we have a new director (Francis Lawrence), a new editor, a new cinematographer and a new costume designer. So I really needed this first glimpse of the second film to work hard to reassure the fan base that the characters they know and love are back and that the integrity we showed with the first movie is still intact. But almost equally important for me was to show that the stakes are higher, the drama  will be greater and that CATCHING FIRE will be taking the story of our reluctant hero Katniss Everdeen to a whole other level. I’m grateful that Francis Lawrence has delivered a gigantic movie that has so many rich and amazing pieces for me to play with. He’s really made my job a fun and easy one.

Probably the most satisfying thing I saw after the release of the teaser was a fan comment on one of the blogs that posted the trailer. I tend to be overly obsessive about reading and monitoring real fan reaction to the materials. This one comment did the most to reassure me that we had hit the mark with the new teaser trailer: “Shit’s getting real.” It doesn’t get better than that.

Tim Palen, Lionsgate CMO and all around renaissance man. Photo by Jack Pierson

“Tim is amazing. A true artist. The work he does reflects his impeccable taste and a truly singular point of view that only the strongest and surest of artists could present.”
— Francis Lawrence

Special thanks to Josholatras for discovering this article and photo! Follow them on twitter @josholatras

'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Trailer Edit "Stay Alive"

Check out a great an edit of the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire trailer, "Stay Alive." There were reports that this edit is an official TV spot, but it's fan made. It's still a great edit of the trailer. Enjoy!

Cover Girl to Launch Capitol Collection and 'Catching Fire' Inspired Ad Campaign

COVERGIRL cosmetics will launch a first-of-its-kind creative advertising campaign inspired by Catching Fire, featuring new products from the brand’s upcoming Capitol Collection from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire this fall.  

Lionsgate and COVERGIRL will be celebrating the partnership at a Cannes Film Festival Gala on Saturday, May 18^th. Updates on this partnership will be released via facebook.com/covergirl, Twitter at twitter.com/covergirl, and Instagram at instagram.com/covergirlofficial.

Here the press release:

HUNT VALLEY, MD, May 17, 2013 — Today, COVERGIRL announced its first-ever major movie sponsorship of Lionsgate’s highly anticipated The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, scheduled for release in North American theaters on November 22, 2013. COVERGIRL will launch a first-of-its-kind creative advertising campaign inspired by the film, featuring new products from the brand’s upcoming Capitol Collection from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, to be announced at a later date.  

Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson lead an all-star cast in the second installment of The Hunger Games franchise, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The trailer, which debuted last month, has been viewed over 25 million times on YouTube. The film promises to illustrate the exquisite splendor in the world of the Capitol in rich detail, and the film’s makeup department used COVERGIRL products on set to create the film’s luxurious, high couture looks. 

“With The Hunger Games: Catching Fire partnership, we wanted to redefine cosmetics’ relationship to film with a fantasy-meets-reality beauty experience,” said Esi Eggleston Bracey, VP and General Manager, Global P&G Cosmetics. “The film inspired COVERGIRL campaign coming out this fall truly will bring beauty transformation to life in an aspirational, dramatic fashion.  All of us at COVERGIRL were captivated by Suzanne Collins’ novels and the first film, so we’re thrilled to collaborate with Lionsgate on such a bold beauty partnership with the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”

“We are excited to announce COVERGIRL as the exclusive makeup partner for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” said Paula Kupfer, Lionsgate’s Vice President of Promotions and Consumer Products. “The exquisite beauty and style in the world of the Capitol is a focal point of this film. Partnering with an innovative brand like COVERGIRL to create an additional layer of beauty storytelling and inspiration for the fans is new territory that we’re delighted to explore.”

Over the past year, COVERGIRL has stood out in the beauty category with its addition of several new spokeswomen, including P!NK, Janelle Monáe and NERVO, who, along with the brand, embrace beauty with a sense of authentic individuality and fearlessness. COVERGIRL’s partnership with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the latest expression of the brand’s passion and commitment to continue to break barriers in beauty.

 

We chuckle as we direct you to our "News" story from last October: The "press release" for new cosmetic line, Glow by Portia 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Why The Odds Are In It's Favor By Total Film

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire landed the number 30 spot in Total Film’s Future 100: their preview of the hottest incoming movies, stars and trends. Here's why they think the odds are in it's favor:

Its Got Solid Cinematic Foundations

With it's blend of gut-punching action and tremendous emotion, The Hunger Games became one of 2012's biggest hits ($691M in box office receipts, 85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Lionsgate's highest-grossing release ever). That puts Catching Fire in a fantastic position: book fans love the movie and that built-in audience is all-important when it comes to box-office. Expect rampant record smashing.

J-Law's Never Been Hotter

She's just 22 years old but Jennifer Lawrence is everywhere at the moment. Not only does she have 2 massive movie franchises stringed to her bow (X-Men and The Hunger Games), but she's also just nabbed a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Tiffany in indie Silver Linings Playbook.

It's Going Bigger

As with any sequel, Catching Fire is all about expanding. Aiming higher and hammering out the details. That means visits to other impoverished Districts and an even bigger cast list. Talking of bigger, if you thought the arena in the first film was impressive, just wait until you see what Donald Sutherland's Machiavellian President Snow has in store for the 75th Hunger Games...

There's Fresh Meat

While director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) has revealed that District 8's Bonnie and Twill won't make it into the film, we can look forward to new tributes in trident-brandishing Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), one liner-loving Johanna (Jena Malone), and super smart old-timer Mags (Lynn Cohen). Plus Philip Seymour Hoffman as cunning Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee.

It'll Be Just As Unflinching As The First Film

Much was made of the less-is-more approach to bloodshed in the PG-13 rated The Hunger Games. In the end, the restraint on the red-stuff didn't lessen the films's impact any, and the same should apply to Catching Fire. If the book's anything to go by, Katniss is in for even deadlier challenges, this time battling a tsunami, burning fog and mutant monkeys....

It's Going Deeper

The end of The Hunger Games promised darker times ahead, and Catching Fire will navigate pretty murky territory. There are repercussions to Katniss' thwarting of President Snow, and CF is as much about her fight against the Capitol as her emergence as the voice of the people. Meanwhile, the seeds of war are being sown. Who says this is just for teens?

The Passion's Still There

Whearas Robert Pattinson was visibly chomping at the bit by the time he had to promote The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Lawrence couldn't be happier about re-entering THG. "It was like going back to school, " She says. "It's a character I'm passionate about. Katniss is a hard character to get bored with."

The Trailer Looks Phenomenal

Any worries that the departure of original series director Gary Ross would dent the quality of Catching Fire were immediately buried by the film's first trailer. Packed full of atmosphere, it effortlessly matches the edgy vibe of the first Hunger Games installment. "I agree she should die, but in the right way, at the right time, " rasps Philip Seymour Hoffman as Heavensbee. Shivers down the spine all around. 

It's Going to Be A Feast For The Eyes

No surprise that early marketing material focused on Catching Fire's fashion - masterminded by costume designer Trish Summerville (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), the assortment of fur coats and fabulous frocks make for sizzling sci-fi couture. District 12 escort Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) again leads the pack in the kind of kooky clothing that would turn even Lady Gaga's fashion conscious head. 

It's Not An Easy Game

So the risks are greater, the canvas has been expanded, and J-Law's still keen, but what about the romance? That's where Catching Fire plays it smart, muddying the relationship between Katniss and fellow HG survivor Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) as their fates depend on the plausibility of their shaky faux-mance. And what of Liam Hemswoth's Gale? Let the Games begin......