Lionsgate has released the second official trailer for The Hunger Games which, while shorter than the first one, contains lots of new footage.

Watch below:

Directed by Gary Ross and opening on March 23, 2012, The Hunger Games chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.

Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.

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Lionsgate have already set a November 22, 2013 release date for Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games which will move forward if the film makes over $100m at the US box office next March.

The company must be pretty confident of its chances, as according to Deadline Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, is the top contender to write the Catching Fire script.

The site also confirms director Gary Ross will return to direct the sequel:

He originally intended to write the outline for the second film and script it with author Suzanne Collins (they teamed to do a lot of writing on the first film), but the post production schedule on The Hunger Games has made that difficult. There is no start date on the sequel, but it is high priority. Negotiations haven’t begun yet, but Lionsgate is pushing hard for Beaufoy.

Below is the synopsis for Catching Fire, which contains potential spoilers so non-book readers beware.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark both survived the Hunger Games. Both returned home wanting and expecting a somewhat peaceful future. But the Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

When rumors of a rebellion that she started reach Katniss’s ears, everything changes. Now, as Peeta and Katniss are forced to visit the districts on the mandatory Victory Tour, everything can and might go wrong—if Katniss and Peeta cannot pull off their act as two madly-in-love teenagers. If they fail, everything they’ve worked for will be gone.

You can watch the recently released trailer for The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, below:

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Sony aren’t the only studio setting release dates for sequels way ahead of time. Lionsgate sent out a press release today informing the world that Catching Fire, the film adaptation of the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy, will be released on November 22, 2013.

Liongate see The Hunger Games as their Twilight, and they’ve already said they intend to make all the books into films (possibly splitting the final book). Other than The Expendables and Tyler Perry movies Lionsgate don’t really have any big money makers, so adapting a book series which has sold over 8 million copies could give them a major franchise.

Here’s the synopsis for Catching Fire via The Hunger Games Wikia. Potential spoilers for non-book readers.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark both survived the Hunger Games. Both returned home wanting and expecting a somewhat peaceful future. But the Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

When rumors of a rebellion that she started reach Katniss’s ears, everything changes. Now, as Peeta and Katniss are forced to visit the districts on the mandatory Victory Tour, everything can and might go wrong—if Katniss and Peeta cannot pull off their act as two madly-in-love teenagers. If they fail, everything they’ve worked for will be gone.

Opening on March 23, 2012, The Hunger Games chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.

Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.

Read similar posts to Lionsgate set release date for The Hunger Games sequel at Filmonic

Here’s some news that should interest fans of The Hunger Games. The Playlist recently caught some tweets (now removed) by production designer Eddie Mills and electrician Chrys Blackstone which revealed that Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean’s Thirteen) would be working as second unit director on the film.

Second unit directors typically direct establishing shots, close-ups, and stunts while the director focuses on scenes involving the main actors. Second unit would seem a bit odd for an established director such as Soderbergh to be involved with, but he is a long-time friend of director Gary Ross, having worked together on Pleasantville (1998), and Ross has often read through Soderbergh’s scripts.

Soderbergh’s virus thriller Contagion starring Kate Winslet, Matt Damon and Jude Law will be released September 9, 2011, and his female-driven action film Haywire with Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor hits January 20, 2012.

Opening on March 23, 2012, The Hunger Games chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.

Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.

Read similar posts to Steven Soderbergh directing second unit on The Hunger Games at Filmonic

Entertainment Weekly got their hands on the first official images of Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games.

In the books Peeta is a boy from the same town as Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who is also selected for the games. During the opening ceremony he reveals his unrequited love for her, and Katniss spends the rest of the story unsure whether the move was a survival ploy or a true act.

Gale is Katniss’ best friend and hunting partner, but becomes more in the second and third books.

Here’s the Entertainment Weekly cover:

Directed by Gary Ross and opening on March 23, 2012, The Hunger Games chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.

Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.

Read similar posts to First look at Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale in The Hunger Games at Filmonic

Following the release of a motion poster for The Hunger Games yesterday, Lionsgate have released the same poster but without the music and effects.

From The Hunger Games Facebook page:

Directed by Gary Ross and opening on March 23, 2012, The Hunger Games chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.

Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.

Read similar posts to Official poster for The Hunger Games at Filmonic

Lionsgate have high hopes for The Hunger Games, having witnessed the success of the Twilight franchise for Summit Entertainment. In the past we’ve heard of their intentions to turn all three of Suzanne Collins’ books into a movie trilogy, but now it looks like Lionsgate may follow the trend of splitting the final movie into two.

From Deadline:

Lionsgate executives told Wall Street analysts this morning to expect big things from The Hunger Games, a series of four action films that the studio will release from the trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. COO Joe Drake said it was “the highest selling film we’ve ever had” at the Cannes Film Festival and that overseas exhibitors consider it “the movie that can change their company.” Although Lionsgate wouldn’t disclose its budget for the films, Drake says Hunger Games could become an “outsized success” for Lionsgate. The studio says it bought the rights before the books became runaway best-sellers, and it has “retained the majority of the upside” in its talent and distribution deals.

Lionsgate could decide to split Catching Fire, the second book, into two movies, however it’s most likely that the final book, Mockingjay, will get the split treatment. I haven’t read the books so I can’t comment on whether two movies are required (in the case of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it was), but this decision is obviously a financial one. If (big if) The Hunger Games is a success next March then Lionsgate will obviously want to spawn a profitable franchise of its own, as other studios and production companies have over recent years.

The Hunger Games is set in a future America which is divided into 12 poor districts that serve a wealthy Capitol territory. Once a year, each district submits a girl and boy as tributes to participate in life-or-death games. Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen alongside Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman) and 24 other young actors who play tributes from 12 different districts.

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At the beginning of the week Elizabeth Banks (The Next Three Days) joined the cast of The Hunger Games as Effie Trinket. This casting was followed by a daily bombardment of fairly unknown young actors being cast in supporting roles, but now an actor we are familiar with is circling the movie.

According to Vulture John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) will “soon be getting the offer to play Haymitch Abernathy” in the film. Abernathy is the only living person from District 12 to ever win The Hunger Games, and now serves as a mentor to district tributes Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). The site mentions Reilly was also in talks for a role in Sam Raimi’s Oz, The Great and Powerful as James Franco’s side-kick, but a larger role in The Hunger Games (with the potential for sequels) seemed more attractive to the actor.

In related news Lionsgate has cast Paula Malcomson (Sons of Anarchy), who will play the mother of Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) and Willow Shields (Primrose).

The Hunger Games is set in a future America which is divided into 12 poor districts that serve a wealthy Capitol territory. Once a year, each district submits a girl and boy as tributes to participate in life-or-death games.

Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) is directing, and Lionsgate have set a March 23, 2012 release date, with production beginning this month.

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According to Variety Elizabeth Banks (The Next Three Days) is in talks to join the cast of The Hunger Games as Effie Trinket, an escort for District 12 who takes tributes Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) to the games in the Capital.

Throughout the trilogy of books Effie Trinket changes her hair from pink, to orange and gold, and has been described as “a bit of a airhead at times, totally oblivious to the sorrows and misfortunes that fall upon District 12…. She’s very strict about manners and being “proper”, as that is the Capitol’s way.”

In related casting news Entertainment Weekly reported that newcomers Dayo Okeniyi and Amanda Stenberg would be playing District 11 tributes Thresh, a big, burly male and Rue, a small but capable female. The official Facebook page for The Hunger Games confirmed this by posting their picture on the ‘Who are the Tributes?’ section.

The Hunger Games is set in a future America which is divided into 12 poor districts that serve a wealthy Capitol territory. Once a year, each district submits a girl and boy as tributes to participate in life-or-death games.

Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) is directing, and Lionsgate have set a March 23, 2012 release date, with production beginning this month.

Read similar posts to Elizabeth Banks joins The Hunger Games at Filmonic

After speculation last week Lionsgate has confirmed that Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson will be joining Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games.

Peeta Mellark will be played by 18 year old Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right), with Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song) set to play Gale Hawthorne.

The Hunger Games is set in a future America which is divided into 12 poor districts that serve a wealthy Capitol territory. Once a year, each district submits a girl and boy as tributes to participate in life-or-death games.

Katniss is a young girl who volunteers to take the place of her sister, while Peeta is a boy from Katniss’ town who is also selected for the games. During the opening ceremony he reveals his unrequited love for her, and Katniss spends the rest of the story unsure whether the move was a survival ploy or a true act. Gale is Katniss Everdeen’s best friend and hunting partner, but becomes more in the second and third books.

Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) is directing, and Lionsgate have set a March 23, 2012 release date, with production beginning this month.

Read similar posts to Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson confirmed for The Hunger Games at Filmonic