It's a slow news day so here's some minor casting news: Paula Malcomson (Deadwood) has been cast as the mother of protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her younger sister Primrose (Willow Shields) in The Hunger Games.  According to Heat Vision, Mrs. Everdeen "is grieving after her husband’s death, living in fear that her daughters will participate in the deadly Hunger Games."  I haven't read the books so I don't know how major the role is, but Malcomson was tremendous on Deadwood so I'm glad to see her nab a role in a major flick like this.

Casting for the movie has been chugging along the past several weeks with Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Amandla Stenberg, Dayo Okeniyi, Leven Rambin, and Jack Quaid having joined the project thus far.  Elizabeth Banks is currently in talks to play the role of Effie.  Hit the jump for the official synopsis.  The Hunger Games opens March 23, 2012.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Hunger Games:

The Hunger Games is a worldwide fan phenomenon, the novel having been on the New York Times best seller list for over 130 consecutive weeks. The film chronicles Katniss Everdeen’s defiant struggle to survive in a future dystopia where The Capitol requires its twelve subjugated districts to atone for their onetime insurrection through the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death event held in a fantastical man made arena.  Although persevering through extreme hardship is commonplace for the audacious heroine, she is forced to make choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home to District 12.

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.

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