A couple weeks ago, we reported that Elizabeth Banks was in talks to join Gary Ross' adaptation of The Hunger Games.  Today, Heat Vision confirms that she has officially signed on to play the role Effie Trinket, the "flaky bureaucrat who escorts her district’s young death-match contestants to their fate."  Banks joins Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and Willow Shields along with an expanding cast of young actors playing tributes from various districts.Banks will be seen in theaters later this summer in the indie comedy Our Idiot Brother.  She's also signed on to play the alcoholic sister of Chris Pine's character in Alex Kurtzman's Welcome to People.  Hit the jump for the official synopsis for The Hunger Games, which opens March 23, 2012.Here’s the official synopsis for The Hunger Games:

THE HUNGER GAMES will be directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Collins’ best-selling novel, which has over 3 million copies in print in the United States alone, is the first in a trilogy of science fiction/action novels which have developed a global following.

“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 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. The Hunger Games novel has been on the New York Times best seller list for over 100 consecutive weeks. Foreign rights for the book, published by Scholastic have been sold in 41 countries.

Lionsgate will release “The Hunger Games” on March 23, 2012.

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