Just as I published news Lenny Kravitz had been cast in The Hunger Games word comes in that Toby Jones has also joined the film playing whom I believe will be Claudius Templesmith as Deadline only says he is playing “the host/narrator of the games alongside Stanley Tucci” who plays Caesar Flickerman, an interviewer for the Hunger Games.
As described by the Hunger Games wiki, Claudius is described to have a large, booming voice (as quoted by Katniss Everdeen) and a sense of superiority. During the 74th Hunger Games, Claudius, for the first time, spoke in a panicked voice, as Katniss and Peeta faced the Capitol with suicide. Claudius usually announces invitations to feasts, and always ends his sentences with “and may the odds be ever in your favor!” (the Hunger Games slogan).
As I wrote in my Kravitz piece, The Hunger Games centers on Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) takes place in a distant future where North America is now referred to as Panem and the ruling government and privileged lord over the lesser districts by rationing their goods and forcing each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in a violent forum referred to as the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until only one survivor remains.
Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives (Career Tributes), Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson). If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Filming is underway in Hildrebran, North Carolina with a release date set for a March 23, 2012.
