Hunger Games Theme Parks a Possibility

Yeah, it's all over the news today: Hunger Games theme parks are being discussed. According to Variety, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer made the disclosure Friday during a conference call with analysts following release of the studio’s quarterly earnings report.

Feltheimer said Lionsgate had been approached about Hunger Games theme parks in two territories and was considering those possibilities. He gave no further details.

The CEO’s disclosure came in response to an analyst question about which areas of Hunger Games merchandising had performed well. Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Rob Friedman had said that Lionsgate was “very excited” by sales of the “Capitol Couture” line of attire.

What do YOU think? Would you go to a Hunger Games theme park?

Win a collection of Hunger Games-themed chocolate

Vosges Haut-Chocolat & Wild Ophelia have created an exclusive line of chocolate truffles and bars inspired by "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." They have teamed up with Lionsgate to offer a contest to win a selection of the bars, which you can enter here! 

In addition to chocolates inspired by each District, there is a Snow bar, Effie bar, Katniss bar, and a Capitol truffle collection! They're all offered for sale individually on the Vosges site.

Which are you most interested to try? 

Jennifer and Liam in Atlanta

Photos from the filming of Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2 are finally starting to trickle in, and yesterday saw the surfacing of both Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth - with Liam sporting what is believed to be the uniforms worn by those in District 13!

We have to admit these photos are slightly bittersweet, though ... it's the beginning of the end!

Photo credit: Popsugar.com

Photo credit: Popsugar.com 

Hunger Games Trilogy UK Deluxe Editions Will Be Released October 3

Beautiful new foil-covered Deluxe editions of the Hunger Games trilogy books will be released on October 3rd, exclusively for UK. You can pre-order The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay on Amazon for £7.99 each . Thanks to Scholastic UK for the tip!

Suzanne Collins #3 On Forbes Top Earning Authors of 2013 List

Forbes just listed Suzanne Collins at #3 on their list of top earning authors of 2013 - and the year's not over yet. Collins earned an estimated $55 million in the last year. 

Photo by Graylock/ABACAUSA.COM/NewscomFrom Forbes:

Writing thrillers or romances for adults is good; even better is writing fantasy fiction for young adults that spills over into the adult market. The biggest franchises of the past decade have employed this formula, most recently Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy. Collins’ earnings of $55 million — good for No. 3 on our list — also showed the power of a hit film adaptation, which can launch a book from the earthly best-seller list into the stratosphere

The blockbuster release of the first Hunger Games film, starring Jennifer Lawrence, helped launch Collins from the ranks of up-and-comers to the Olympian heights of J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. A former children's television writer, she's also the author of the five-book series The Underland Chronicles. 

Amandla Stenberg On The Hunger Games & Race in Hollywood

RookieMag just posted a really interesting interview with Amandla Stenberg. She talks candidly about her experience with some of the (hopefully FEW, come on people!) negative reactions from her casting as Rue in The Hunger Games. Her maturity belies her youth, and is one of the many reasons we love her. 

What has been your favorite role to play so far?

I don’t know if I can pick a favorite, because my experience has been so varied. But what I loved about The Hunger Games is that it had a fantastic cast. It was basically like summer camp. We were all in the woods together for three months. There were a lot of pranks pulled and sleepovers and that kind of thing. It is kind of a rare experience where all the members of a cast like each other. There were no conflicts or anything.

Was it weird to have your Hunger Games character made into an action figure?

[Laughs] It was pretty bizarre. The Hunger Games was one of the very few films I’ve made, and I got an action figure! It was pretty crazy. It’s really cool. I love to play with it with my niece. I like the fact that it is an image of young girl and it is not a weird sexualized action figure like you often see.

Oprah recently interviewed Alfre Woodard, Viola Davis, Phylicia Rashad, and Gabrielle Union about the challenges black actresses face in Hollywood. They discussed the lack of quality roles for black women as well as the criticism women of color sometimes receive in a hostile and competitive media landscape. At this point in your acting career, have you experienced anything like this? If so, what is your hope for the future?

With The Hunger Games, there was some drama over the fact that a lot of people didn’t expect my character Rue to be African American. So, I received some negative feedback. I kind of distanced myself from it because it seemed very silly to me. I didn’t really think I needed to focus my energy on it.

I don’t really check my personal mentions that much on Twitter. I think it is best to abstain from looking at them rather than come across one negative comment and have it stick in my mind. This happens to a lot of young people in the industry, and it kind of breaks them down. When [those tweets] happened I really tried not to look at what was going on. It was pretty shocking to see some of the articles that compiled the tweets I received. I remember calling my friend Jackie Emerson and telling her I wouldn’t understand all of the drama even if Rue wasn’t supposed to be black, and she comforted me. She told me I had to realize it was nothing personal, but it was unfortunately how society was reacting to the “shocking” presence of an African American actress. [Laughs] I tried not to let it get to me.

I’ve also been told “We’re going in another direction” when I’ve auditioned for roles, and the “other direction” turns out to be a girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. I do agree that perhaps it is more competitive when you’re an African American actress. But at the same time, I can almost use it to demonstrate my ability, because since there are fewer roles for African American women, I can make a deeper impression. I can feel more special about my roles because I know I’ve worked hard to get where I am and I know that I’m one of the people who have made it.

In the future, I think there will be a lot more roles in this kind of new wave of African American actresses like Kerry Washington. Kerry Washington is really revolutionizing the industry. She’s a great role model for me

Be sure to check out the rest of RookieMag's article, and find out about Amandla's charity work and much more HERE. 

Wes Bentley on Jennifer Lawrence and 'The Hunger Games' Frenzy

Wes Bentley (Seneca Crane) recently spoke to NextMovie while promoting his film, The Time Being (in limited release today) and he talked a little about The Hunger Games fan frenzy, and the advice he gave to a certain newcomer on her rise to stardom (yes, it's Jennifer Lawrence). 

It must be nice to get away from all of the "Hunger Games" craziness, especially now that you have a family.
Oh yeah, I enjoy it. You know, actually the beard helped with that too. Now I can walk through a pack of teenage girls and not one of them would know who I am, since I don’t have that beard.

Do people ever recognize you on the street now?
Yeah.

What do they say? Do you have a celebrity doppelganger?
Yeah, I did for a long time — Tobey Maguire. I remember I was in Mexico in some random town, and someone yelled out "Spider-Man!" (Laughs) So I get that sometimes, or when I think someone's recognized me for me, it's actually Tobey. That's happened less and less, though, and it doesn't happen a bunch. Oddly enough, it happens more when I'm not in L.A. or New York. It happens in smaller towns a lot.

Looking back on "The Hunger Games" a year later, do you still have a most memorable fan interaction?
I was, one time, working out at a gym in Albuquerque and I felt some people staring at me, and suddenly I felt uncomfortable. I didn't know why they were staring at me. And then, this girl came up to me and held out a racquetball to me. And I was just looking at the racquetball, and then she handed me a pen. She wanted me to sign her racquetball. I thought that was strange.

You got to work with Jennifer Lawrence before she became such a huge star. What was your relationship with her during filming? Because you also started acting at a young age, did you give her any advice as a newcomer?
You know, I didn't want to overstep my bounds and just give advice without asking. But we clicked, and I love Jen, like everybody does. She's just hilarious, and we got along great and had moments. And I just said to her, "Look, I know a little bit about what you might be feeling or what's about to happen, and if you ever just want to talk to somebody about it, then call me." Of course, it's way bigger than anything I ever had to deal with. And we text sometimes and joke, and she deals with it well, it seems like. But I'll always be there if she wants to give a call or if she's feeling like it's too much.

What are you geeking out over right now?
I'm a "Game of Thrones" fan, so I geeked out hard about that. I can't believe we have to wait a whole year for [Season Four].

How are you on social media? Do you tweet?
I just started. I just opened a Twitter account: @RealWesBentley. But that's all.

The Hunger Games & Catching Fire Fan Ambassador Contest Continues! Now On Instagram

Your next opportunity to show your love for Catching Fire has just opened on Instagram. Photograph giving friends a copy of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire or Mockingjay books and tag it with the hashtag #readcatchingfire. You must ALSO tag an instagram friend with the challenge to read the book or participate in the sweepstakes and follow @scholastic on Instagram. 

You could win a hardcover edition of ‎CATCHING FIRE with an autographed bookplate from Suzanne Collins and a $50 gift card. Get all the details here: http://bit.ly/readcatchingfire. No purchase necessary, must be 13 years old to enter. Contest runs now through July 22, 2013.