Lionsgate has released a new The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 TV spot, and it highlights how the budget for these movies has really ticked upwards.  The first film cost a reported $80 million, and while I don't know the budget for Mockingjay, it definitely cost more, and we're going to see that investment on the big screen in the best way possible.  The franchise is really moving towards the mantle of epic sci-fi, and while I still have reservations because I think the novel is fairly weak, everything I've seen from the movie thus far is very impressive.

Hit the jump to check out The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 TV spot.  The film opens on November 21st, and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Sam Claflin, and Jena Malone.

Via Lionsgate.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1:

The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.