Set for release on March 23rd of next year, The Hunger Games already has a devoted group of die-hard fans but, as Bloomberg details in a new piece on the potential franchise’s early box office analysis, nothing is ever a sure thing in Hollywood. Budgeted at $80 million, the first film represents Lionsgate’s biggest budgeted production to date. Analyzing the same article, Business Insider debuted the below photo of Katniss Everdeen in action.
“We would be disappointed if we didn’t make three or four movies,” studio Co-chairman and CEO Jon Feltheimer tells the outlet, reiterating plans to potentially separate the three original novels into four different films.
To justify a sequel, Feltheimer says that the first film will have to gross over $100 million domestically, something that he’s fairly certain won’t be a problem, though every caution is being given after an uncertain year and the significant under-performance of the studio’s other planned franchise debut, Conan the Barbarian.
Directed by Gary Ross, The Hunger Games plans to appease fans of Suzanne Collins’ book series, but also needs to hit as broad a demographic as possible.
“We weren’t going to let the violence be gratuitous or the selling point of the franchise,” says the studio’s president of movie production Ali Shearmur. “This is an emotional story about a young girl who sacrifices everything and sets off a revolution she never intended.”
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Wes Bentley, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and many more, The Hunger Games is expected to invest roughly $40 million in promotion between now and March. Check back with ComingSoon.net for updates on the highly-anticipated film as they become available.
