The highly anticipated, cinematic version of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games will be released on March 23rd, 2012. While the cast and crew are still in the filming stage of the first movie, Lionsgate has already made plans to move forward with the sequel and has announced a release date.
This morning on its Facebook page, Lionsgate announced that the second book in the series, Catching Fire, will be adapted into a film and is set for release on November 22, 2013, roughly a year and a half after the first movie. That’s all that was said about the film. As of now, there is no word on whether the original cast or crew will be returning although I don’t see why they wouldn’t.
It seems like studios are really anticipating the first film in a series to do well. Just the other day, Sony announced that the sequel for the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man will be released in 2014. The first one won’t even hit theaters until July 2012. And now, we have Lionsgate doing the same thing with The Hunger Games.
Do you think studios are really jumping the gun a little too soon or are these early decisions smart moves? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.