Lionsgate is Not Done Making That Hunger Games Money Just Yet

Lionsgate

As of late last month, The Hunger Games franchise was closing up shop. With the release of Mockingjay – Part 2, Lionsgate said goodbye to the rebellious story of Katniss Everdeen and the four movie franchise that helped catapult Jennifer Lawrence into the stratosphere of stardom. After four movies and $2.8 billion (and counting) in worldwide box office, it’s time to say goodbye to the world of Panem.

Not so fast, said Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference yesterday. According to one of Lionsgate’s key decision makers, fans of Katniss and her world should expect prequels.

“The one thing that kids say they missed [from the early Hunger Games films] was there were no arenas,” he said, referencing the fact that within the four movies, we really only saw the 74th and 75th editions of the competition. Previous versions of the competition within the movies was held in stadiums not all that dissimilar from modern sports stadiums. “If we went backwards, there obviously would be arenas.”

So there you have it, the possibility of pre-Katniss Hunger Games movies with arenas. Far be it from me (who has spent years now covering the ever-expanding universes of Marvel, DC and Star Wars) to look down upon a studio that is trying to extend the reach of a very popular franchise. Harry Potter is getting an extension. Star Wars will live forever. Even Rocky has new life with the success of Creed.

But I do have one big question about potential Hunger Games prequels: What is the larger narrative? The success of the current franchise, and the books by Suzanne Collins, isn’t just about young people killing each other in an arena. This is a longform revolution story about inequality and rising phoenix metaphors. If we look back into the history of Panem, aren’t we just going to find a bunch of sad stories of successful oppression? Perhaps the story of the Dark Days war, which ended in the destruction of District 13 and the institution of The Hunger Games would be interesting. Sometimes even a failed revolution can be good drama.

The challenge for Lionsgate won’t be making their first Hunger Games prequel. It will be breaking stories that can spawn another saga. Prequels are hard. Especially now that we know how everything ends.

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