Reports indicating that Lionsgate wants to split the final Hunger Games novel, Mockingjay, into two movies leaked out nearly a year ago.
Per usual, we’re just now getting studio confirmation that the Hunger Games movie franchise will follow in the footsteps of the Harry Potter and Twilight series (in that regard).
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will hit theaters on November 21st, 2014, nearly a year to the date after the second installment, Catching Fire, is released – and, about a year before Mockingjay Part 2 swoops into theaters on November 20th, 2015.
Production on Catching Fire begins this September, with series newcomers Jena Malone and Philip Seymour Hoffman joining the Hunger Games cast of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harelson, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) will be holding the directorial reins, and is going to shoot a portion of the Hunger Games sequel in IMAX.
Most people seem to agree that the final Harry Potter book, Deathly Hallows, benefitted from not being chopped down to fit a single 2-3 hour movie. However, the general feeling is that the last Twilight novel, Breaking Dawn, could’ve easily been encapsulated in a single film – and have turned out better for it (we’re talking from an artistic perspective, not a financial one, obviously).
Without spoiling anything: Mockingjay meets the two somewhere in the middle, as its narrative is heftier than that of Breaking Dawn, but not so dense as Deathly Hallows. Suzanne Collins’ climactic Hunger Games novel lends itself to a visual medium, being the most action-heavy chapter in the trilogy. Whether or not that justifies stretching the material to cover two films – that’s up for debate.
Let us know your own thoughts about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay being split into two movies (good/bad news?) in the comments section.
Source: Lionsgate
Stephen King ‘Zombie’ Film ‘Cell’ To Be Directed by ‘Paranormal Activity 2′ Helmer 
‘Arrow’ Season 1 Finale Review 
J.J. Abrams Planned ‘Star Trek’ TV Show; Rights Issues Led to Jump to ‘Star Wars’? 
‘Riddick’ Full Trailer: Riddick Gets Unchained (Plus New Images) 
I’m cool with it as long as they don’t get rid of my favorite part. “Finnick, maybe some pants?” “What, do you find this”—he strikes a proactive pose—”distracting?” I couldn’t contain my laughter! But in all honesty it doesn’t need to be split in two parts. It just doesn’t seem long enough. Yeah sure Harry Potter and Twilight makes sense cause the books were long enough. But Mockingjay? I don’t see the point. The book was okay but not the best. If you’ve read the book it’s pretty obvious where they’re gonna split it. But if not then it would suck as much as the end of the first movie.
You say that twilight makes sense being two movies? Yeah sure the book in terms of pages is long, but in terms of an actual storyline, the whole of Breaking Dawn could have easily been done in one 2 hour movie. As for harry potter, they are my absolute favourite books, and definitely appreciated the two movie end to such an amazing story. And I believe Mockingjay should be done as two movies as well, to end the amazing The Hunger Games trilogy. You think about all the detail that was missed in The Hunger Games film, and if they can add that in to Mockingjay by making it into two movies then why not? I don’t see your point as valid at all.
Mockingjay is literally one page shorter than Catching Fire. There is no reason to split this book in two. Yes, there might be a reasonable breaking point, but that does not mean it should be split. They would have to take as much detail as possible to make the movie last. The last Twilight was spot on because they milked everything they could out of it and then added an extra twenty minutes of “twist” because there was not enough action or material. The only way this will work is if they drag out Peeta’s torture, the war, and the finale. They are really going to have to add in things to make it work. The first part is going to be incredibly boring, though, and the second part will be nothing but depressing.
Breaking Dawn couldn’t have been in one movie, its almost 800 pages, I’ve read the book. And I have read Mockingjay its 390 pages, I’ve read that too, it can easily be in one part. I CAN ONLY WAIT SO LONG
Breaking Dawn shouldn’t have been in 2 movies… yeah the thing was long, but it was filled with SO much filler… HALF of the book was just Jacob pining over Bella, and a good majority of the first movie was spent entirely too long on the honeymoon, which was really only a couple chapters long… I DID like the fight scene included in the second half of the movie for us, and for that alone I forgive Summit for their greediness. With Mockingjay, there is a lot of stuff going on between the districts, and in the Capitol, while being written in first person we miss a lot of it, the movie split would allow us to expand upon it. Certain scenes taken from the book will last longer than it took to read, most likely, for instance in the tunnels, the walk to the Capitol from the shop they hid in… etc. And we might even get to see what’s going on in the studio when Ceaser Flickerman has Peeta on air. CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS MOVIE!!!
I personally think that splitting Mockingjay into 2 movies will be so much better as they will be more detailed and accurate to the book (if done well that is). it also makes the movies feel like they last longer, especially with such good quality fictions such as The Hunger Games. So thankyou to whoever’s idea it was to make two films!!
Thank you! So many people just complain about the movies being split “because [they] can’t wait”. I look forward to the exact details being depicted, especially in part 2.
I think one movie is enough to capture the whole book. But, splitting the book into two movies may not be a bad idea. Suzanne Collins did the screenplay for The Hunger Games. She won’t for Catching Fire, but, she may write the screenplay for Mockingjay. If she does, I’m sure we’ll have nothing to complain about. Even otherwise, it’s impossible to make a s***ty movie (or two) out of a story this good.
I am somewhat glad as long as they get most to ever part/big part in the book. Since the first book movie I was a little disapointed and thought they could add some more thing.
i dont think you should split up the movie. i mean people sat through three hours of the titanic dont you think people will do the same thing with this movie since it came from a book
Ok let’s get serious guys. Mockingjay was awful. There were parts that dragged on, half of the action was while Katniss was passed out, the characters were killed off sudenly and for no reason, people that were talked about through half the book if not all three books died with no more than a sentence or two of explaination, several questions weren’t answered and Katniss had no interest in finding out, the ending was just thrown out like “well I guess that’s it, I came home, got together with this guy for some reason and I guess everything is ok now”. The only way to justify this movie being two parts and as far as I’m concerned even being made at all is if the whole book gets a rewrite. Take the first half, which is about 260 pages, cut out unneeded stuff and add 50 to 100 pages of content if not more to cover everything happening off the page and for better detail. Take the second half of the book, which is only about 130 pages, add 200 to 300 pages of content to be able to tell the story right and explain everything. I still think they could make it into an extended length movie though even with these additions. It would be somewhere around the length of some other single movies like Titanic, Lord of the Rings, Godfather, etc. People don’t mind watching a 3 or 4 hour movie if it’s good. This greedy stuff needs to stop. If the studio absolutely needs to make more money then charge more for the ticket or play them close together. Kill Bill parts 1 & 2 played a month apart. So did Tarantino’s other one if I remember right. Guess what? I went to all of em and I knew what the hell was going on because it hadn’t been a year or more!
Mockingjay was awful. Parts dragged on, half the action Katniss was passed out, the characters were killed off sudenly and for no reason, people that were talked about through half the book if not all three books died with no more than a sentence or two of explaination, several questions weren’t answered and Katniss had no interest in finding out, the ending was just thrown out like “well I guess that’s it”. The only way to justify this movie being two parts or even being made at all is if the whole book gets a rewrite. Take the first half, 260 pages, cut out unneeded stuff and add 50 to 100 pages of content to cover everything happening off the page and for better detail. Take the second half of the book, only 130 pages, add 200 to 300 pages of content to be able to tell the story right and explain everything. I still think they could make it into an extended length movie though even with these additions. It would be similar to single movies like Titanic, Lord of the Rings, Godfather, etc. People don’t mind watching a 3 or 4 hour movie if it’s good. This greedy stuff needs to stop. If the studio absolutely needs to make more money then charge more for the ticket or play them close together. Kill Bill parts 1 & 2 played a month apart. I went to them and I knew what the hell was going on because it hadn’t been a year or more!
I couldn’t agree with you more… I hope the writers get this info… I LOVED the trilogy until the last 100 or so pages. The I felt like they just threw it together to end it. Exactly how I describe to any reader who wants to discuss the final Installment. Can we rally to fix this crap…lbvs
Sorry about the double post. It said it wouldn’t publish so I tried to trim it down. I ended up publishing both I guess though.
Two movies, please. I don’t think it’s needed, but I’d enjoy watching the extra bits that I’m sure they’ll put in without the restriction of it being in first person. And hopefully it’ll give them time to put a bit more time and significants into certain deaths that the book didn’t go into.
There’s a pretty obvious spot where I think a lot of us are sure they’ll cut it, and I think there’s enough action on either side (even if Katniss is unconscious or not involved in the scenes) that easily fill two movies.
I’m crossing my fingers that the last movie leaves me feeling more satisfied than the book, though. No disrespect to Collins, as it’s her work and hers alone, but I have my fingers crossed that they re-write the ending. They don’t need to change anything major, but without the right overtone it’s not going to be a movie people will want to watch over and over again.
I honestly don’t see why Mockingjay should be split into two parts. I mean come on! The Hunger Games is a trilogy! Trilogy people, do you know what that means it means 3, three, tres, cet, san, or what ever language you speak it’s still 3! So making Mockingjay into two parts means that there are four movies and it ruins the fandom and the awesomeness of the trilogy. I mean come on! if i wrote 3 books i would want their to be 3 movies duh! I think that it is just silly. they have ruined so many other awesome series by splitting the final one into two parts and i don’t want them to ruin this one! so if they are going to split it into two parts they have better do a good job! such a good job that i can get over the fact that they split the final movie
I think Mockingjay would benefit from being split into 2 parts, as there is SO much going on in this movie… first uniting the districts and then the fight on the Capitol, and of course I’d love for them to do the epilogue at the end of the credits. My pick for where this movie should split… when Peeta and Katniss re-unite with his hands around her throat.
Great cliffhanger.
Exactly what I am thinking. Possibly they’ll end it the second we see a clip of her reaction when his hands grab her throat and (like her eyes bulge, or something to that painful and dramatic effect). Then, “CUT!”. So suspenseful. Although, that may be too expected and not enough leading up to that part. What if we see the whole scene of him choking her, and they cut it with her seeing him in a haze being dragged away after being knocked out? Movies have to add to the book’s story to enhance the visual effect of the internal dialogue.
They just want us to spend more money on the movie who didn’t see this coming?
Its sucks, hollywood is just greedy .Honestly most movies split in two arent worth thr couple of crappy scenes they put in
Looking at the “Catching Fire” Trailer, it might have been interesting to split this movie in two… they could have left off with the Quarter Quell as the cliffhanger at the end of this movie. Mockingjay split it two doesn’t make as much sense, it didn’t have as much action or rich a storyline.
Given how they did the first movie, the characters and scenarios that were taken out and added in (showing what was going on during the games with Snow and Haymitch) and guaranteed that the same will be done in Catching Fire. It does make a little sense that Mockingjay is split in two. This way they can show what is was happening outside of what Katniss was able to see, such as what was happening in the Capitol and to Peeta. This would make things slightly longer. I feel in the second part they would be able to expand more on **Spoilers** Peeta’s hijacking and by the end epilogue, how him and Katniss grew back together, whether his memories cleared to what they really were and whether he is fully back, or at least mostly back to normal. Just a small plot whole I feel can be cleared up and shown in the movies.
I think that it is a great idea but I don’t like the year wait for part 2! It has always been a year to wait but since that it is a year to wait for the second part is just a bit stupid! If the second bit of the movie comes out great then it’s worth the wait.
I just can’t wait for the rest of the movies to come out coz I think they are spectacular even more than spectacular!
Shut up and enjoy it, christ on a cracker. I absolutely love the hunger games books and I thought it was awesome that they’re splitting the last movie into two parts. The last book was very fast paced and it was very hard to understand what was going on at times. I think it will be cool to see it pan out on screen and have shots from whats going on in the capitol and whatnot. 390 pages or not that book contained a lot of content that just couldn’t be contained in one 2 hour movie. And on the bright side, they’ll most definitely make the ending with Katniss and Peeta longer, and I’m sure they’ll touch on the rest of the cast’s futures as well which will be great to see!
I think that it is a good thing that mockingjay is going to be split into two parts because there will be more details and right now I am eleven so when mockingjay part two comes out I can watch it by myself.