Around 74 years before Suzanne Collins’s story begins, the 13 Districts, tired of Capitol’s harsh rule, decided to rebel against the totalitarian government. These times were named as the Dark Days.
The Capitol responded to the rebellion with a swift and deadly reply, including using genetically altered animals named Muttations to attack Districts. During the attack with the rebels, District 13 is destroyed.
However, it is later revealed that District 13 made a deal with the Capitol after stealing their nuclear weapons. They reasoned that rebellion against the Capitol was futile after witnessing their power. However, now that they had technology on par with the Capitol they made a deal to become an independent state and would pretend to be a wasteland to deter other Districts from any further rebellion.
To resume a sense of control, the Capitol established The Hunger Games. Forcing young teenagers to slay each other for their entertainment was proof of the Capitol’s power.
For 74 years, the Capitol’s plan works. That is until the events of the first Hunger Games book, with Katniss and Peeta’s near double suicide threatening to start another revolution. Their actions were seen as an act of rebellion and the evil President Snow is determined to ensure there is not a second rebellion. He forces Katniss back in the arena for the 75th Hunger Games tournament. These events occur in Catching Fire, resulting in District 12 being destroyed.
Born in 1935, Donald Sutherland is an iconic actor, best known for his harrowing role in Don’t Look Now and comedic turn in M*A*S*H. The Canadian began performing at 14 as a radio announcer, and studied drama at university, before embarking on an acting career.
The father of movie star Kiefer Sutherland, he has a reputation for being incredibly friendly during making his films, ensuring he knows the first names of all cast and crew members.
It’s no surprise that when casting the villainous and cunning man of power that is President Snow Gary Ross turned to Donald Sutherland. This is the man, after all, who played such a brutal leader in a film called 1900 that he couldn’t watch his own performance, as his character terrified himself!
Ross ended up writing more scenes for Sutherland after the actor wrote an impassioned email about the character. He said: ‘It was a long and thoughtful analysis of the way power is wielded and why. How it controls people and how pernicious the Hunger Games were, and the way they were used as an instrument of political control. It was so eloquent and brilliant that it actually inspired me to write two extra scenes for him that I think are pivotal in the movie, and that Suzanne really loves too. I realised that not only were the scenes vital, but they actually fitted a piece that was missing. That was a gift I got from Donald.’
Sutherland and Lawrence only appear together in one scene in the first Hunger Games movie, but Ross promises it will be one to watch. ‘It’s only when she’s crowned that they confront one another, and it’s very electric,’ he said.
She may not be in the movies, but Daniella became the first actress to play Katniss on the screen. Auditioning for a part for a British movie, the director wanted to audition his two leads. Deciding that the tender scene between Peeta and Katniss in the cave was a great one, that was their audition. But in actual fact it ended up on the internet and was cherished by fans of the books. Churchran would also film a fan video for MainStay Productions, this time the heartbreaking death scene of Rue, who was played by Savanna Kyle Lewis.
Gary Ross was so impressed by the video that she was asked to audition for the actual movie. She had to perform two scenes straight from the book to read, one where Katniss and Gale were talking up in the mountains and the scene between Katniss and Rue where they discuss destroying the Careers’ food supply.
While Churchran never landed the part, she also tried to bag a chance of playing Glimmer, telling DownWithTheCapitol.net: ‘I think it would be so much fun to have any part of this film. I think that it would be particularly fun to play Glimmer. She’s feisty, tough and I love roles that involve physical challenges.’
The regular composer on Tim Burton’s films and the superhero likes of Spider-Man and Batman was signed up to give us the no doubt blood pumping score for The Hunger Games. However, just months before the film’s release, it was announced that he would be leaving the project for scheduling reasons, as he was too busy providing the score for Burton’s Dark Shadows and Men in Black 3.
Elfman was to collaborate with T-Bone Burnett on the movie, and the Oscar-winning songwriter had said previously: ‘He’s got an incredible space he’s put together. It’s the most incredible studio I’ve ever seen; he’s got drums and marimbas and a cimbalom – just crazy instruments everywhere. We’re just going to go over there and rock out together.’
Lionsgate Head of Film Music Tracy McKnight said, while announcing Elfman’s role in the film. ‘The Hunger Games is such a special property. It has worldwide mass appeal, but it’s also sophisticated, cerebral, soulful and rebellious. We needed a composer who can translate these qualities musically, and we have not one but two incredible artists in an absolutely thrilling first-time ever collaboration.’
Instead, Batman Begins composer and studio favourite James Newton Howard took over. He said after he finished working on the movie: ‘It’s a great movie and the director was really cool.’
Talking about his approach to composing, he added: ‘I take a project based on a couple things. At this stage in my career, there are a lot of relationships involved. A handful of directors, when they do a movie, it’s a no brainer. It’s an automatic. You know, it’s like a marriage – you’re in there for better or worse. And sometimes it’s better, and sometimes it’s worse, but friendships and creative relationships are established and it becomes very meaningful in that regard. Other times it can be a new director who I’m really dying to work with who perhaps has made a film that I truly admire, and I’ll seek them out and tell them if there’s ever an opportunity to work with them, I’d love to do it. Sometimes it’s just a great script with no money, and I just love the script.
‘The first thing I do inevitably is just to start writing music. I generally will write a suite – like an eight or a 10-minute suite just based on my impressions of the script and my conversations with the director. I really started that process when I started working with Night [M. Night Shyamalan], and I’ve been doing it that way ever since. Night was really the first director I had ever worked with who wanted a lot of music before he started shooting. That really turned out to be a valuable experience. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve written a suite before they started shooting and then derived significant material out of it and the theme in the final version of the score.’
Dayo plays Thresh. He was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He came to the USA to become a graphic designer. ‘I have always enjoyed performing, whether it be acting, singing, or dancing,’ he said. ‘When I initially moved to the United States, I put performing on hold because it felt like it was time to “grow up and be realistic”. But the longer I put it on hold, the more the passion grew inside me.’
Okeniyi loved the fighting scenes in the movie. One thing that surprised him was just how much the cast felt like a family to him. He thought it would be more intense given the nature of the movie, but in fact it was completely the opposite. Everyone was trying to out-prank each other, he said, with one cast member coming back to a trailer covered in post-it notes!
Okeniyi was told by the director to think of Thresh as a gentle giant: ‘He is definitely the strong, silent type and does more speaking with his actions than his words. However, he does have a gentle side to go along with his rough exterior.’
He said he was excited for everyone to see the film, saying: ‘It feels awesome and amazing. I feel privileged to be a part of it. I’m a fan of the books, just like anybody else and I cannot wait for this movie to come out. I’ve been having sleepless nights because I hope it does well. I hope we’ve created something that the fans are excited about and that they will get the same feeling that they had when they read the books you know. It’s such a beloved book, and I don’t want to be part of the crew that messed it up!’