The Hunger Games Casting (Leading Trio)

So the line-up for the leading trio of The Hunger Games film has been recently released:

Jennifer Lawrence (20) as Katniss Everdeen

Josh Hutcherson (18) as Peeta Mellark

Liam Hemsworth (21) as Gale

To be honest, based on purely physical features, these actors aren't exactly how I'd envisioned the characters as I was reading the series. In terms of merit / skill... I guess only time will tell.

It's a little ironic that Peeta is supposed to be blonde, but the actor is a brunette, while Gale is supposed to be darker haired, but has a relatively blonde guy portraying him. But altering physical appearances is no big deal for Hollywood these days.

How do you guys feel about the recent castings? Who were you hoping for?

Katniss To Die In Mockingjay?

Recently, Suzanne Collins was interviewed by the School Library Journal (which can be found here, for any of you who haven't seen it yet). Before you read further, I must warn you that there are spoilers pertaining to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Gladiator in this post.

Now, there was one particular question & answer pairing that jumped out at me, and it'd be great to hear you guys weigh in as well. Says Collins,

"But once the “Hunger Games” story takes off, I actually would say that the historical figure of Spartacus really becomes more of a model [...] for Katniss. We don’t know a lot of details about his life, but there was this guy named Spartacus who was a gladiator who broke out of the arena and led a rebellion against an oppressive government that led to what is called the Third Servile War. He caused the Romans quite a bit of trouble. And, ultimately, he died."

Could this possibly be foreshadowing for Katniss Everdeen's fate? And you know, it kind of reminds me of Gladiator, that 2000 film starring Russell Crowe. And *spoiler alert* Maximus dies at the end of the movie. I mean, from an emotion-evokation perspective, that would definitely carry heavy impact.

And considering Collins's style, I can't imagine her finishing off Mockingjay with a happy fairy-tale ending. So let's face it - there're going to be deaths. There's going to be carnage. The whole Gale-Katniss-Peeta triangle is not going to end perfectly for all.

So, what do you think? Will Katniss follow in the footsteps of Spartacus and Maximus and the like and suffer a Romantically tragic demise? Will she survive? Which of those close to her will meet untimely ends?

Waiting on Wednesday (17)

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
*August 24th, 2010 Scholastic

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

It's Mockingjay, what can I say? A little over a month! Who's excited?!

*WoW is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine

Mockingjay Cover

The cover for Mockingjay, the final installment of Suzanne Collins' highly acclaimed trilogy that began with The Hunger Games and continued with Catching Fire, has been released today. And what a cover it is!

For one thing, it's a beautiful shade of blue. For another - doesn't the cover seem to be just teeming with symbolism? I mean, the first two covers demonstrated obvious correlations and parallel structure - and so does this one. But the centre circle - it's bursting apart! Do they represent the districts, and the freedom gained? In fact, the bird on this cover - posture-wise, orientation, etc. does seem to seem more self-confident, more free somehow. The others seem to be almost held captive by their respective circles - this one's got its wings spread out to full wingspan, ready to take flight.

What a beautiful title too; Mockingjay. Even the ring of it sounds beautiful. Also interesting to note that THG had three words, in the title, CF two, and now M one. Almost like we're counting down, y'know?

And for comparison's sake, here are the two earlier counterparts of the trilogy's covers:

Certainly Collins has lucked out with a series of great covers over the course of this series. Do you guys have a favourite? Any predictions on the final outcome and/or events of this third installment?

My review of The Hunger Games; alas, haven't gotten around to reviewing Catching Fire yet, despite delving into day of its release. Here's the Scholastic blog, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly's takes on the cover.