By Zanub Saeed
It was announced that the third book in Suzanne Collins Hunger Games trilogy will be split in half for the big screen adaptation, where "Mockingjay," the final installment of the series, will be released as two separate movies, confirmed Deadline.
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1," the third movie in "The Hunger Games" movie series, will be released on November 21, 2014, a year after the release of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which is set to begin production this fall. The final installment of the movie series, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2," will be released a year later, on November 20th, 2015, said Deadline.
The first movie of the series, "The Hunger Games," already made $400 million in the domestic box office this spring and summer, and is set for a DVD and Blu-ray release this summer.
At the moment no director is set for the "Mockingjay" movies, though stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth will headline the series from beginning to end.
Casting is currently underway for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," where recently announcements were made for Academy Award-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman to portray new Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee, and Jena Malone as Hunger Games winner Johanna Mason.
The book split into two movies is the latest trends for franchises in the past few years, starting with the seventh book in J.K. Rowling's blockbuster Harry Potter series. The seventh book and finale of the fantasy saga, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was split by Warner Bros. into the fall 2010 release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" and the summer 2011 release of the eighth movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," both of which were huge hits. The series, from first until eighth, starred practically the same cast from beginning to end, with leads Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson as headliners.
After the success of the Harry Potter book split, Summit Entertainment chose to break the fourth book in "The Twilight Saga," "Breaking Dawn," into the two part film installments "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1," which was released last November, and the fifth and final movie in the series, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2," out this November and starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner.
