Development Filming for the franchise began on May 23, 2011, and finished on June 20, 2014. Color Force and Lionsgate collaborated on all four films. It was announced on November 1, 2012, that the studio had decided to split the final book,
Mockingjay (2010),
into two films:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), much like
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and
2 (2011), and
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and
2 (2012).
Directors Gary Ross directed the first film (
The Hunger Games), and despite initially stating otherwise on April 10, 2012, Lionsgate announced that Ross would not return to direct the sequel. On April 19, 2012, it was confirmed that
Francis Lawrence would direct the sequel instead, and on November 1, 2012, it was confirmed that Lawrence would return and direct the final two films in the series, based on the novel
Mockingjay. In April 2020, Collins and Lionsgate confirmed that plans were underway for the prequel film's development.
Francis Lawrence was later confirmed to direct, after doing so for the prior three films in the series since
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Scripts Suzanne Collins began adapting the first book to film after she finished writing
Mockingjay. Collins had experience in writing screenplays after writing ''
Clifford's Puppy Days'' and other children's television shows. When Gary Ross was announced as director for the film in 2010, he began to work with Collins and veteran writer
Billy Ray to bring the novel to life. After Francis Lawrence took over as director, he brought in
Simon Beaufoy and
Michael Arndt to write the script for
Catching Fire. The final two films of the series were written by
Danny Strong and
Peter Craig. The prequel films of the series were written by
Michael Arndt and
Michael Lesslie.
Casting Once the three leads were cast, casting shifted to the other tributes.
Jack Quaid was cast as
Marvel,
Leven Rambin as
Glimmer,
Amandla Stenberg as
Rue, and
Dayo Okeniyi as
Thresh.
Alexander Ludwig (who auditioned for Peeta) was cast as
Cato,
Isabelle Fuhrman (who auditioned for Katniss) as
Clove, and
Jacqueline Emerson as
Foxface. Following the casting of tributes, the adult cast began to come together.
Elizabeth Banks was cast as
Effie Trinket, the District 12 escort.
Woody Harrelson was cast as
Haymitch Abernathy, District 12's mentor.
Lenny Kravitz was cast as
Cinna, Katniss' stylist.
Wes Bentley was cast as gamemaker Seneca Crane.
Stanley Tucci was cast as
Caesar Flickerman,
Panem's celebrity host.
Donald Sutherland was cast as
Coriolanus Snow, Panem's president.
Willow Shields was cast as
Primrose Everdeen, Katniss' younger sister. In July 2012, the cast for the second film was announced.
Jena Malone would play
Johanna Mason.
Philip Seymour Hoffman would play
Plutarch Heavensbee.
Sam Claflin would play
Finnick Odair. It was later announced that
Jeffrey Wright was cast as
Beetee,
Alan Ritchson as
Gloss,
Lynn Cohen as
Mags, and
Amanda Plummer as
Wiress. In August and September 2013, it was revealed that
Stef Dawson would play
Annie Cresta,
Natalie Dormer would play
Cressida,
Evan Ross would play
Messalla, and
Julianne Moore would play
President Alma Coin in the final two films. In May 2022, it was announced that
Tom Blyth was cast as the younger version of Coriolanus Snow in the prequel film. Later the same month,
Rachel Zegler was cast in the role of Lucy Gray Baird. The following month,
Josh Andrés Rivera,
Hunter Schafer and
Jason Schwartzman were cast in the roles of Sejanus Plinth, Tigris Snow and Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman respectively.
Filming Principal photography for
The Hunger Games began on May 24, 2011, and concluded on September 15, 2011. Charlotte, NC was used for the Capitol scenes. An abandoned village in Hickory, NC was the filming location for District 12. The arena scenes were filmed on the outskirts of Wilmington, NC. Principal photography for
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire began on September 10, 2012, in
Atlanta,
Georgia and concluded in April 2013. In November 2012, production moved to
Hawaii to film the arena scenes. Filming took a Christmas break before filming resumed for two weeks in mid-January. In March 2013, the film went back to Hawaii for re-shoots. Atlanta was used for all Capitol scenes. Hawaii for the arena scenes, and
Oakland, New Jersey, for District 12 scenes. Principal photography for
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay began on September 23, 2013 and concluded on June 20, 2014. Majority of filming for the
Mockingjay films was filmed in soundstages in a studio in Atlanta, until April 18, 2014. Production then moved to
Paris, with filming beginning there on May 5, 2014.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, who portrays Plutarch Heavensbee, died on February 2, 2014. At the time of his death, he had completed filming his scenes for
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and had a week left of shooting for
Part 2. Lionsgate released a statement stating that, since the majority of Hoffman's scenes were completed, the release date for
Part 2 would not be affected. Principal photography for
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes began in
Wrocław, Poland on July 11, 2022, and ended in
Berlin, Germany on November 5, 2022. Filming locations included the
Monument to the Battle of the Nations in
Leipzig and the
Centennial Hall in Wrocław. Some scenes in the film were also shot in the "
Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord" in
Duisburg in North Rhine-Westphalia. ==Reception==