THE HUNGER GAMES NEWS FOR OCTOBER 16TH: SCRIPT NOTES, RACE IN CASTING, AND MORE

Early script for ‘The Hunger Games’ includes detailed notes about the Games

by Sara Gundell at The Examiner
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Entertainment Weekly has seen an early draft of the script for The Hunger Games movie — and it seems to include a detailed retelling of the Games themselves, a brutal arena match in which teenagers are pitted against each other in a televised fight to the death.

The script was written by the book’s author, Suzanne Collins, and polished by veteran screenwriter Billy Ray.

The real challenge for filmmakers adapting the project, as noted in EW, is creating a film that can hold a PG-13 (or lower) rating to attract its core, younger audience — while staying true to the violent subject matter from the books.

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‘Hunger Games’: Is Rue black? And should race matter when you’re casting the movie?

by Darren Franich at Entertainment Weekly
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So far, most early Hunger Games casting predictions have focused on Katniss Everdeen (see the Great Kaya/Lyndsy Debate) and the boys who love her. But what about Rue? The youngest tribute (12 years old) in the 74th Hunger Games, Rue would be a difficult role for any pre-teen actress. Adding some complexity: the fact that Rue is clearly described as having “satiny brown skin” on page 98. Don’t worry if you didn’t know that Rue and her fellow District 11 tribute Thresh were black. I didn’t either after my first read. (Like most people, I raced through the book in about three seconds.) But now that it’s time to cast the movie, we should ask: How important is it that Rue be played by an African American actress?

You could argue that, in Panem, race matters much less than which district you’re from. It wouldn’t radically alter the structure of THG if Rue were played by, say, Chloe Moretz. But it feels like there should be some color in this movie, if only to avoid something like the color-bleached Last Airbender or the caucasiafied Earthsea. And there’s arguably a deeper level of meaning to Rue’s ethnicity: one commenter on Keith Staskiewicz’s recent post argued that District 11, where citizens work all day in the fields and live in fear of the Peacekeepers, explicitly references plantation life in antebellum South.

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MULTIPLE CHOICE: ‘Hunger Games,’ ‘Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ And More: Which Book Will Make The Best Movie?

by Amy Wilkinson at MTV News
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Sequels and reboots are having their day at the box office, but we bet over the next year or two, book-to-film adaptations will steal their spots on the top shelf. It doesn’t take a degree in vampirology from Transylvania U to divine the success Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series has experienced thanks to novel-loving moviegoers worldwide. With a built-in audience of loyal readers, upcoming adaptations of “The Hunger Games” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” are primed for similar successes. In fact, so many of our favorite reads are headed to the theater that we can’t pick just one as our best bet. Can you? Cast your vote after the jump for the book you think will be the box office star.

Vote here

I really hope that when they cast The Hunger Games, they stay more true to the source than Last Airbender. There’s no good reason for changing the race of characters. And after the backlash from Airbender, you have to hope that Hollywood has learned it lesson. I honestly didn’t notice the description of Rue, but I read the book in one sitting and haven’t had a chance to read it again.

Is accurate casting important to you? What extra details do you hope to see in the movie? Do you think The Hunger Games is the best movie choice out of that book list?