The beloved and lucrativeHunger Gamesfranchise comes to an end this weekend with the release ofThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, which closes outKatniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) story. Back in February, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer teased that the studio is actively developing sequel and prequel ideas, and this July,Josh Hutchersonteased that some sort of follow-up is happening. While doing press for the franchise finale,Francis Lawrence, who directed the last three movies, revealed to Yahoo! Movies UK that he isn’t sure fans would show up for a prequel, citing one big reason.
“The obvious choice would be to go back to someone else’s games, like the Haymitch games or something. The problem with that is that you know the outcome, so you’ve got to figure out what’s interesting, what characters do you want to see, what’s the new idea? We’ve just explored war and trauma; do we really need to see another set of games? I don’t know.”
Lionsgate hasn’t officially announced anysequels or prequelsforThe Hunger Gamesso far, but it isn’t surprising that they want to keep the franchise going. The first three movies, 2012’sThe Hunger Games, 2013’sThe Hunger Games: Catching Fireand last year’sThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, have taken in $2.2 billion worldwide. WhileFrancis Lawrenceisn’t sure that aprequelwould work, the filmmaker explained that he would come back for a sequels, on one big condition.
“We’ve finished the story and it’s kind of bittersweet for us. We all loved making the movies, we all loved being together, but I’m very happy to have seen the stories through to the end. So if there were ever more stories, I think they’d have to come from (author)Suzanne Collins. She has to have a new idea and theme that she’s interested in and think up new stories to tell around the world ofPanem. She’s the mother of these characters and of this world and if she had another story she wanted to tell about something, something she wanted to write about, then I’d be in in a second.”
Suzanne Collinshasn’t announced any plans for futureHunger Gamesnovels or stories, and it isn’t known if the author is involved with any of the prequel and sequel ideas Lionsgate is developing.Jennifer Lawrencetold Yahoo! Movies UK that she likely wouldn’t come back for any follow-ups, stating that the studio would get a “whole new cast of young hot teenagers.” Do you think The Hunger Games franchise should be explored even more on the big screen?
