Lionsgate has released the first trailer for director Francis Lawrence‘s (Water for Elephants) sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  The darkness and melancholy of the first film has only intensified, but this trailer only tells half the story.  We’re shown the victors’ tour, and how President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is trying to tear down the hope-inspiring image of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) before killing her.  Only at the end of the trailer, do we hear about the second part of the story, which is the “Quarter Quell”, a special Hunger Games where past winners will be forced to fight to the death.  I assume they left this out because it’s the more effects-heavy part of the story, and that footage is moving through post-production.

The film also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, and Amanda Plummer.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens on November 22nd in IMAX and traditional theaters.

The first trailer for director Francis Lawrence’s (I Am Legend) highly anticipated sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to debut during the MTV Movie Awards later this month, and now a promo for the event has been released online that gives us our first look at footage from the film.  The video teases a look at the “Victory Tour” that Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta embark on at the beginning of Catching Fire as part of their duties as Hunger Games victors.  Liam Hemsworth will introduce the two-and-a-half minutes of footage during the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, April 14th at 9pm ET/PT, so check back here on Collider at that time to watch the full trailer.

Hit the jump to watch the promo.  The film also stars Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, and Amanda Plummer.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens on November 22nd in IMAX and traditional theaters.

Rejoice, The Hunger Games fans!  Production has officially started on the Francis Lawrence-directed follow-up, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  According to their press release, the film “will shoot primarily in existing locations in and near Atlanta, Georgia.  The film will subsequently be shot on location in the beaches and jungles of Hawaii before wrapping in late December, 2012.”  Perhaps more importantly, the director has recorded a video message for fans, announcing a worldwide sweepstakes that will win some lucky fans a chance to visit the set and participate in a cast and crew Q&A!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire stars Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, in addition to Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Wright, Tony Shalhoub, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Amanda Plummer, Lynn Cohen, Bruno Gunn, Alan Ritchson, E. Roger Mitchell, Meta Golding, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland and Woody Harrelson.  Hit the jump for the video from Francis Lawrence and details on the fan set visit contest. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 22, 2013.

Amanda Plummer has been set to play Quarter Quell tribute Wiress in Francis Lawrence‘s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  In the upcoming sequel, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) are called into the 75th Hunger Games as punishment for Katniss’ defiance in the previous fight to the death.  Per the press release, Wiress’ “eccentricity earns her the nickname ‘Nuts’ from fellow tributes, and though she doesn’t communicate traditionally, her observations and contributions prove invaluable in the Quarter Quell.”  Plummer has kept mostly to low-budget fare in her career, but she’s a solid addition to this blockbuster flick.  She joins other new cast members Jena Malone (who’s playing Joanna Mason) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (who’s playing Plutarch Heavensbee).

Hit the jump for the press release.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 22, 2013.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Japanese writer/director Shunji Iwai’s Vampire which stars Kevin Zegers, Amanda Plummer, Adelaide Clemens, Rachael Leigh Cook, Kristen Kreuk, Trevor Morgan and Keisha Castle-Hughes. Here’s what the Sundance website has on the film:

Simon seems like a fairly normal, average young man who’s devoted to his teaching job and ailing mother. Underneath the surface, however, things are not what they seem. Simon hunts through online chat rooms and message boards, searching for the perfect girl: beautiful, shy, and suicidal. Simon has a particular condition: he is compelled to drink blood.

Anyway, the other day I got to interview Rachael Leigh Cook and Adelaide Clemens about working on Vampire here at Sundance.  They talk about how Vampire is different from the Twilight films, their characters and the freedom that director Shunji Iwai gave them on set, the language barrier, upcoming projects, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch:

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Japanese writer/director Shunji Iwai’s Vampire which stars Kevin Zegers , Amanda Plummer, Adelaide Clemens, Rachael Leigh Cook, Kristen Kreuk, Trevor Morgan and Keisha Castle-Hughes. Here’s what the Sundance website has on the film:

Simon seems like a fairly normal, average young man who’s devoted to his teaching job and ailing mother. Underneath the surface, however, things are not what they seem. Simon hunts through online chat rooms and message boards, searching for the perfect girl: beautiful, shy, and suicidal. Simon has a particular condition: he is compelled to drink blood.

Anyway, the other day I got to interview Kristen Kreuk and Trevor Morgan about working on Vampire here at Sundance.  We talked about what the film is about, why they got involved in the project, being at Sundance, why are vampire’s so popular right now, what other projects they’re working on, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch

Japanese writer/director Shunji Iwai will make his English-language feature debut with the generically titled Vampire, and today we have a behind-the-scenes look at the Vancouver, Canada production.  Kevin Zegers (Gossip Girl) stars as a schoolteacher with a taste for blood who seeks out his female victims on a website for the suicidal.  The supporting cast includes Amanda Plummer, Rachael Leigh Cook, Kristen Kreuk, and Oscar-nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes.

Something about the combination of the subject material, the superficial “ET Canada” presentation format, and the ultra-nice-guy aura of Zegers really unnerved me during my viewing — I think that means they’re doing something right.  Check out the footage after the jump.