THE HUNGER GAMES IS A WRAP

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company, today announced the close of principal photography on the highly anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' runaway bestselling novel The Hunger Games.  Lionsgate will release THE HUNGER GAMES on March 23, 2012.  The film is the first in a series that Lionsgate is making based on the book trilogy that has become a worldwide phenomenon.  

Filmed entirely in North Carolina, the locations spanned from a dense forest in which the arena that hosts the games themselves was created to a town that stood in for Katniss' home, District 12, to a sound stage that was the platform for the fantastical sights and sounds of The Capitol, the futuristic capital city of the nation of Panem.  Principal photography on the 84 day production began on May 23rd.

The film pairs Oscar® nominee Jennifer Lawrence (WINTER'S BONE, X-MEN FIRST CLASS) with Josh Hutcherson (THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT) and Liam Hemsworth (THE LAST SONG) in the key young adult roles.  Rounding out the cast is a who's who of acclaimed adult actors: Oscar® nominee Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Oscar® nominee Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentley and Toby Jones.  

"It has been an absolute thrill watching THE HUNGER GAMES, a project that has truly become part of Lionsgate's DNA since our acquisition of the book in 2009, come to life.  What I observed on set was impressive on every level, and reinforced my confidence that we have assembled precisely the right team to bring Suzanne Collins' brilliant novel to the big screen," said Joe Drake, Lionsgate's co-COO and Motion Picture Group President.

Although the intensely anticipated sets were closed to press and visitors, Lionsgate and the filmmakers were able to reach out and touch the incredibly eager fans several times during the production process.  

Lionsgate debuted the central cast trio through two Entertainment Weekly covers, featuring Jennifer Lawrence in character as Katniss and Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth in character as Peeta and Gale.  It marked the first time that a studio has revealed a principal cast of film characters on sequential national magazine covers.  

Winners of "The Ultimate Hunger Games Fan Sweeps," a global contest where fans entered to win the opportunity to be flown to the set of THE HUNGER GAMES, was the one exception to the film's closed set policy.  In mid August, five winners from around the world and their guests got a glimpse of the sets, observed the filming of a scene and met the cast.  

A heavily promoted first look at footage from the film debuted on MTV's 2011 Video Music Awards on August 28th.  The show attracted MTV's biggest audience in the network's history with a record-breaking 12.4 million total viewers.  

About THE HUNGER GAMES

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in 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 one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  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.

THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel, the first in the trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 12 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.  

Lionsgate will release THE HUNGER GAMES on March 23, 2012. 

About Lionsgate 

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution and new channel platforms.  The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as "Mad Men", "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" along with the comedy "Blue Mountain State," the upcoming drama "Boss" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House Of Payne", its spinoff "Meet The Browns",  the upcoming "For Better or Worse," "The Wendy Williams Show" and "Are We There Yet?".

Its feature film business has generated more than half a billion dollars at the North American box office in the past year, fueled by such successes as THE LINCOLN LAWYER, TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S BIG HAPPY FAMILY, THE EXPENDABLES, which was #1 at the North American box office for two weeks, THE LAST EXORCISM, TYLER PERRY'S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, KICK ASS and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which won two Academy Awards®. The Company's home entertainment business has grown to more than 8% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 13,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

For More Information Contact:

Lionsgate – Film Division
Kate Hubin Piliero
310-255-4064
[email protected]

Lionsgate – Corporate Inquiries
Peter D. Wilkes
310-255-3726
[email protected]

SOURCE Lionsgate