The Hunger Games movies are so spot on in their handling of material that is so dependent on tone to be successful that I'm not sure going for another, more inherently broad, format is a good creative decision. But financially that's a whole other story and that's where The Hunger Games Stage Show comes in. It's set to debut in London in 2016 after the movies have concluded their run and will take place in a brand new theater built just to accommodate the special technical requirements the show demands.
It's probably no accident that this announcement is timed so close to the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. That film is due in theaters on November 21st and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Sam Claflin and Jena Malone. Hit the jump for more on The Hunger Games stage show.
Per the press release:
Continuing the expansion of its global blockbuster Hunger Games franchise into new businesses, Lionsgate is teaming with Dutch media company Imagine Nation and U.S. based Triangular Entertainment to bring The Hunger Games to the stage using innovative and immersive staging techniques, the companies announced today. The Hunger Gamestheatrical experience will launch in summer 2016 in a brand new purpose-built theater next to Wembley Stadium in London, UK.
The Hunger Games theatrical experience will be produced by award-winning Broadway producer Robin de Levita, co-founder of Imagine Nation, along with legendary UK promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Triangular Entertainment’s Warren Adams and Brandon Victor Dixon of WalkRunFly Productions and entertainment executives Robert Harris and R&R Media’s Gary Ricci.
De Levita has recently created groundbreaking presentation formats for two productions in Holland. Soldier of Orange, the hit Dutch musical, has been sold out since it opened four years ago. The audience sits in a 360-degree rotating auditorium that turns from set to set creating an unforgettable experience. ANNE, the first authorized play in 55 years based on The Diary of Anne Frank, uses rotating life sized stage sets. ANNE premiered in May 2014 in Amsterdam and has received rave reviews from around the globe.
“Robin de Levita and the entire production team are the perfect partners for extending The Hunger Games franchise into a live theatrical experience,” said Lionsgate Chief Marketing Officer Tim Palen. “Their creative genius, combined with world-class production values and state-of-the-art technology will provide a uniquely immersive experience for fans around the world.”
“I’m thrilled to be partnering with an innovative next generation studio like Lionsgate on a property that resonates so deeply with global audiences,” said De Levita. “The theater is a fantastic medium to bring the many meaningful layers of Suzanne Collins’ writing to life.”
A few years ago I would have thought that this would have been stretching the idea a little thin in terms of audience saturation, but the appetite for this stuff seems to be insatiable.
