Monthly Archives: February 2012

The Walking Dead Governor: David Morrissey

With AMC’s hit television show “The Walking Dead”, the development for season three is well underway. As the mid-season premiere for season two broke cable records as most watched show, it’d be a shame not to capitalize on the momentum. I’m more surprised a season four hasn’t been guaranteed yet; then I remember how “Heroes” turned to dung in the second season before my very eyes. I could have written a better storyline on a napkin while drunk.

So for fans of the comic who’ve been reading ahead in the series, we already have a general idea of what to expect; we’re just really hoping that certain storylines are followed over others. So it turns out we’re not going to be seeing the Governor until season three. That’s okay, they still have to find the prison first. What is awesome though for those hardcore into geek lore is who will play the Governor.

The part will be played by British actor, David Morrissey according to Deadline. Hmmm… British actor you say? If he’s worth his salt in anything, he’d have been in some kind of awesome British television show, right? His IMDB photo didn’t spark any recognition in my old brain matter, but it might be because he wasn’t wearing the costume. In the right set of clothes, Morrissey turns into the Next Doctor!

Hit with a Cyberman InfoStamp; patent pending; Jackson Lake in his fugue state is imprinted with all the factual events and collected observations of the Cyberman enemy known as the Doctor, simply the Doctor. The one, the only and the best!

That right there is all I need to know to be happy with the selection for the Governor. Mostly because I’m a biased because he was in the Doctor Who Christmas Special back in 2008.

Originally the speculation on who would be the Governor was John Hawkes, based on the words of Tom Savini; who really wanted the role. Sorry Sex Machine. You can read about it here in the article The Rise of the Walking Dead Governor.

As Hawkes has the acting chops and Savini had the looks for the part; when compared to the comic book version of the Governor; I’m surprised a third person wasn’t considered who could satisfy both acting and looks. Maybe even some slicing actions for cutting off the hands of the enemy? That’s right, I mean Danny Trejo, the Machete! Oh well.

Savini didn't make the cut.

The Governor who appears in The Walking Dead graphic novel series, written and created by Robert Kirkman, is a twisted man who rules over a fortified township in a zombie plagued world. Not only is the character created as a returning antagonist, rapist and sadist, but has his own novel also penned by Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga as well in, “The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor.” The Governor will meet up with Rick Grimes and the rest of the Walking Dead in season three. If the television show remains true to the comic books, it won’t be pretty.

Either way, I’m happy to see David Morrissey get the part. Even if he has to play the despicable Gov. Allons-y!

Top 3 Scenes From The Hunger Games I Am Most Excited To See

With the massively anticipated film, The Hunger Games, little less then a month away from hitting theaters, my personal anticipation for the film is growing. Yes, I preordered midnight showing tickets, and yes I read all three books in less than three days, and most certainly, yes, I am team Peeta (and no I can’t believe I just said that…) Either way, the point is, we are all excited for this film.

After reading the novel and considering the film, I have decided these are the three scenes from the book that I am most excited to see in the big screen adaptation. Unfortunately, we know that when it comes to movie adaptation of books, often things are left out for time purposes (although director Gary Ross maintains this is a very faithful adaptation) so hopefully these three scenes will remain intact for our viewing pleasure.

:::::Caution: there are a few tiny spoilers if you haven’t read the novel:::::

The Interview With Caesar Flickerman

I had to put this one, because I am girl who can’t resist a good proclamation of love. And I would be lying if I said my heart didn’t melt when Peeta professed his love for Katniss. I mean what girl didn’t enjoy that (even albeit slightly). It was a sweet moment, even if at the time you weren’t sure if it was a true revelation or manipulation. Thankfully, we all know it was a revelation of true love. When I read it, I read into its sincerity and thats something that Peeta isn’t able to fake during the games or even afterward. I hope Josh Hutcherson (who plays Peeta) will be able to pull off the sincere admission of love in the movie.

Either way, it was a great scene in the novel and I am looking forward to squealing in girlish delight when the scene plays in the theater.

Tripping of Tracker Jacker Venom

This was definitely one of the more intense moments of the novel. Katniss drops the nest of tracker jackers on the careers camp, killing two of them. However, in the process she gets stung several times and begins to hallucinate. I am very curious on how they are going to film this because basically, she was tripping. Her hallucinations are vivid and bright and incredibly weird.

I am excited to see this scene, because I think watching it will be pretty powerful compared to just reading about her tripping on the acid. I am also curious how the visualization of the weird things she sees will translate on screen.

The Feast

Easily my favorite scene in the novel. (The end with the berries is pretty awesome too, but c’mon you knew they would both live or there wouldn’t be two more books!) While reading, you know there is so much at stake when Katniss drugs Peeta to go to the feast and retrieve precious medicine and materials they need. It was pretty intense and I couldn’t force myself to stop reading this. I can guess its going to be even more intense of the big screen. The feast scene adds more intensity when Katniss is about to be killed and Thresh saves her life.

While this is easily one of the most brutal scenes in the novel (I mean Thresh does cave in Clove’s skull) I know they will probably lighten it a little bit, however, even if it is a little less bloody, I really hope they retain the immense anxiety and fast paced imagery that the novel employs. Seriously, it was brutal.

I have mentioned before how much I loved this book series, and I still do. And frankly, I haven’t been this excited for a movie since Arrested Development announced chances of a movie. I will be moderately happy with the adaptation if at least these three scenes remain relatively intact. (But hopefully this really is a faithful adaptation and I will love it) I think all three are crucial turning points in the novel and should remain as they are.

The Untold Secrets of The Hunger Games

The people over at The Hollywood Reporter recently did a photo shoot and interviews with the stars and director of the highly anticipated film, The Hunger Games. They also highlighted several “untold secrets” regarding the casting and production of the film adaptation.

The Hunger Games film is the big screen adaptation of the novel written by Suzanne Collins. The film is the first of a four film franchise that will adapt the two sequels to the novel, Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

“After the trailer launched Nov. 14, we had 8 million views in the first 24 hours,” says Lionsgate Films president Joe Drake. “We were the number one Twitter trend on the planet. Since then, the book sales have jumped 7.5 million copies. That kind of data gives us enormous confidence.”

As you may know the film stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. The rest of the cast includes Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and Elizabeth Banks.

Some of the secrets included:

Jennifer Lawrence, the actress who plays Katniss Everdeen, took three days to accept the lead role. While several actresses were considered for the role, Lawrence was ultimately rewarded the spot. Even though she hesitated when it came to accepting the role. Lawrence has stated that she credits her mother for accepting the role.

“I called my mom and she called me a hypocrite, because when I was doing indie movies and everyone was asking why I didn’t do studio movies, I said, ‘The size of the movie doesn’t matter.’ And she said, ‘Here’s a movie you love and you were thinking of turning it down because of its size.’ I thought, ‘I don’t want to miss out because I’m scared. Me being scared, I never want that to stop me fromdoing something.’ But I knew in my heart that I wanted it — it was about working out all the fears.”

It was also revealed that Lionsgate operated on a very tight budget to make the film. It was reported that the film eventually cost a little more than $90 million, reduced to $78 million after subsidies.

They also confirmed that the lead trio are in fact contracted for the entire franchise which includes 4 movies based on the three books of the series. Also that director Gary Ross is committed to working on the sequel as well, which will hopefully begin shooting in September.

You might not know that Lawrence had an accident while training for the film that almost halted filming of the adaptation. The actress revealed during the interview:

“I had to do 10 ‘wall runs,’ where you run at the wall as hard as you can to get traction, I ran at it and my foot didn’t go up, so I caught the wall with my stomach. My trainer thought I had burst my spleen. I had to get a CAT scan and go into a tube where they put this fiery liquid in your body. I was still pretty bulked up from X-Men: First Class, So a lot of the training was getting muscle back, heightening the muscles without building them. I loved the archery — well, I have a love-hate relationship with it.”

Probably the most unnerving parts of filming the project was the fact that the set was 100 degrees and included bears. During the interview with THR, Ross related that not only were there bears in the woods they were shooting but also 100-degree heat and rain that was almost daily. He added:

“we’d only get to shoot four or five hours a day,”

Liam Hemsworth also revealed that when he got the role of Gale in the movie, that his brother gave him a little bit of advice regarding his new project.

“My brother Chris texted me before shooting and told me to lose weight. He said, ‘It’s called The Hunger Games, not The Eating Games!’ “

You can read the entire article from The Hollywood Reporter here or watch the behind the scenes video from the photo shoot below:

New Trailer For Game of Thrones Season 2

HBO GO recently revealed a new “First Look” at the upcoming second season of “Game of Thrones.” The second season that premieres on April 1st, is said to be focusing primarily on the events of “A Clash of Kings” the second book in the “A Song of Fire of Ice” series.

Game of Thrones is the HBO series based on the book series written by George R.R. Martin. The series was highly anticipated even in the early stages of development. The first season was very well received by both viewers and critics. It was so highly rated that the second season was picked up only two days after its premiere in 2011. It was nominated for several awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards and Best Television Series – Drama at the69th Golden Globe Awards; Peter Dinklage also won both ceremonies’ Best Supporting Actor award (Emmy and Golden Globes). Other accolades include an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series and an Emmy win for Outstanding Main Title Design.

Season 2 had to introduce many new characters into casting for the second season that began in May 2011. Owing to the very large cast of characters in Martin’s novels, the producers had to fill a great number of additional speaking roles.

Stephen Dillane was cast as Robert’s younger brother, Stannis Baratheon, one of several pretenders to the Iron Throne.
Carice van Houten is set to play Melisandre of Asshai, the “Red Priestess” of the foreign god R’hllor, an influential advisor to King Stannis Baratheon.
Liam Cunningham was given the part of the former smuggler Ser Davos Seaworth, a bannerman of Stannis.
Gwendoline Christie was cast as Brienne of Tarth, a female warrior who joins Renly Baratheon’s guard and becomes a follower of Catelyn Stark.
Natalie Dormer appears as Lady Margaery Tyrell, a noblewoman from the Reach promised to be the wife of Renly Baratheon.
Gemma Whelan was chosen to play Yara Greyjoy, the Ironborn captain and sister of Theon. Named “Asha” in the novels, the character’s name was changed to avoid confusion with the Wildling Osha, Bran Stark’s companion.
Tom Wlaschiha was cast as Jaqen H’ghar, a prisoner and recruit of Yoren, as well as an assassin of the Faceless Men.
Rose Leslie will appear as Ygritte, Jon Snow’s love interest among the Wildlings.
Daniel Portman took the part of Podrick Payne, the squire to Tyrion Lannister. The 19-year-old Portman plays Podrick as about 16 years old, instead of about 12 as in the novels.
Among the other new cast members are Nonso Anozie as Xaro Xhoan Daxos.
Kerr Logan as Matthos Seaworth;
Oliver Ford Davies as Maester Cressen;
Roy Dotrice as Pyromancer Hallyne, an elderly alchemist at King’s Landing;
Karl Davies as Alton Lannister, a character who does not appear in the books;
Ben Crompton as ”Dolorous Edd” Tollet,
Michael McElhatton as Roose Bolton;
Robert Pugh as the Wildling chief Craster;
Hannah Murray as Craster’s daughter Gilly,
Patrick Malahide as Balon Greyjoy, lord of the Iron Islands and father of Theon;
Ian Hanmore as Pyat Pree;
Fintan McKeown as Ser Amory Lorch.

You can see the set of teaser images from season 2 here, and watch the HBO GO trailer below:

The Hunger Games Teaser # 4 Revealed

We have about a month left till the big screen premiere of The Hunger Games and in case you are like myself, you are probably overly excited for the film. If you need to be satiated till March 23rd, then we have a new teaser you can watch. While it shows pretty much the same stuff that we have already seen in the previous trailers, it is still worth watching.

The Hunger Games is the movie adaptation of the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins. It is followed by the sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

The plot for the film is as follows:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the governing body, the Capitol, of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Katniss Everdeen volunteers as a tribute to save her sister from going in to the ghastly arena. She is joined by Peeta Mellark, a boy she knew who once saved her life.

You can see the official cast below:

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
Willow Shields as Primrose “Prim” Everdeen
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
Paula Malcomson as Mrs. Everdeen
Amandla Stenberg as Rue
Alexander Ludwig as Cato
Dayo Okeniyi as Thresh
Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove
Jacqueline Emerson as Foxface
Leven Rambin as Glimmer
Jack Quaid as Marvel
Donald Sutherland as President Snow
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane
Latarsha Rose as Portia

You can watch the new teaser trailer for The Hunger Games below:

Brett Ratner’s Hercules is the Peoples Champion?

Turns out that Dwayne Johnson, The Peoples Champion, the Rock is in talks with MGM about starring in Hercules. The film which is to be directed by Brett Ratner; who directed the comedians version of the Expendables. I believe it was called Tower Heist.

The film is based on the Hercules comic book by Radical Publishing. They have two series which are called, “Hercules: The Thracian Wars” and “Hercules: The Knives of Kush.” The last one just makes me think there are blades made of marijuana. Both series are written by Steve More with artist Cris Bolsin.

The Thracian Wars is described as follows:

“Fourteen-hundred years ago, a tormented soul walked the Earth that was neither man nor god. Hercules, powerful son of the god king Zeus, received nothing but suffering his entire life. After twelve arduous labors and the loss of his family, this dark, world-weary soul turned his back on the gods, finding his only solace in bloody battle. Over the years he warmed to the company of six similar souls, their only bond being their love of fighting and the presence of death. These men and woman never question where, why, or whom they go to fight; only how much they will be paid. Knowing this, the King of Thrace has hired these mercenaries to train his men to become the greatest army of all time. Hercules begins to question King Cotys’ motives when he takes his army out to battle and sees them practice on innocent men, women, and children of their neighbors. Deep in his soul something stirs, but is it enough to stop a mad king and his army of the damned from marching across Greece – or even Olympus itself?!”

So if I’m to understand this correctly, Hercules roamed the earth in seventh century as an emo, laying the smack down for Kings while the Thracians were being wiped out by Goths. It’s okay, I’ll suspend my belief on this because I too have watched Marvel’s Thor film adaptation. I can’t believe I paid to see that either though.

This might be MGM’s bid to find their own Conan movie for reinvention, but I’m skeptical about Ratner more than I am about The Rock; sure it puts the movie at risk for being associated with the Scorpion King, but “you keep what you kill” and man did that movie die horribly.

So what’s wrong with Ratner? He’s done a great job directing Red Dragon and an X-Men movie, but he’s also been the force behind the Rush Hour movies. While the Radical Comics Hercules title does look serious, it’s still a comic. The comedic moments makes me wonder if if any Rush Hour will leak a bit into the film. Maybe it’ll just have to take a really good script to really tell.

Hey, is it my imagination or does Hercules on these covers look a little like a time lost Judge Dredd?

Free Harley Quinn Update for Batman: Arkham City Lockdown

Today Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced a new update for the Batman: Arkham City Lockdown App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is now available. The update will include a brand new level featuring Harley Quinn, a Bruce Wayne skin and achievements, and a Batarang mini-game, all for the low low price of free. It’s strange how consumers will pay top dollar for the latest tech but they’re hesitant for one dollar apps.

As I sat and reviewed the trailer for the new portion of Batman: Arkham City Lockdown I was instantly hit by the realization that Harley Quinn has somehow gone from this cute little thing, to a tarted up sex-pot. Yes, yes, I know that’s what the industry is all about these days but whatever happened to old school costumes and characters? Over the years I’ve watched many comic book characters get the costume overhaul. Some of it just turns way to suggestive. Have you seen the Star Sapphire’s latest costume? When Harley Quinn first debuted, it was in “Batman: The Animated Series”, the costumed started a a modest one piece, traditional harlequin jester outfit, worn by Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel who had some serious nightingale issues.

The popularity of the character prompted DC comics to introduce the Harley into their universe. This time the costume wasn’t so modest and over years became more and more… pronounced.

My initial reaction to the visual of Harley Quinn in the video game was that she looks very much like the Malkavian from Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, right down to the raccoon make-up and blonde pig-tails. Harley Quinn is supposed to have a one piece outfit with a hat, not some leather outfit and pig-tails. Although I can understand the attraction.

Since then, DC comics seems to have updated Harley’s costume with The New 52 reboot. The basis seems to merge the Arkham City video game attire with her traditional costume. Her hair is dyed half-red and half-blue, similar to the jester cap of her original costume, while the rest of the ensemble is still present day skimpy; but just appropriately color coded now.

Aside from the initial realization of Harley looking all wrong, the graphics on the game look very good. If the trailer is any indication of how the game plays on your iWhatever then it looks like the game runs smoothly and is well designed. Harley Quinn’s voice still sounds like a 60’s era chippy, but it’s what I grew up with and still a classic, right next to Mark Hamill voicing the Joker. The scenery is still wrapped in the darkness of Gotham City and at least Batman still looks like he should. The Dark Knight isn’t sporting any nipples on his costume. So that’s a big plus right there.

The Demonologist: Which Came First? The Movie or the Book?

In a bold move, Hollywood is going to make movies based on the potential popularity of unreleased books. The film production companies are no longer content with just adapting movies on popular books, they’re going to go the extra step.

Universal Pictures recently has acquired the rights to the upcoming novel The Demonologist, Deadline reports. The story is was written by Canadian author Andrew Pyper; who’s known for his serial-killer thriller The Killing Circle, wilderness drama The Wildfire Season, and haunted-house horror The Guardians. Pyper won the Arthur Ellis award for one of his first novels, the crime story Lost Girls in 1999.

Robert Zemeckis; director and co-writer of Back to the Future, so I’m already impressed because hey, it’s time travel; and his ImageMovers studio are currently in the planning stages of how they will translate the text for film. Remember, the book is unreleased but quite finished. It’s probably for the best, because if the story is as good as they believe it to be, then it won’t give time for religious sects get involved.

Let’s examine the early description for The Demonologist:

“Professor David Ullman is among the world’s leading authorities on Christian religion and myth. Not that he’s a believer. He sees what he teaches as nothing more than entrenched fiction – the “things that go bump in the mind”. It’s why when he’s offered a trip to Venice to be a consultant on a case study based on his expertise as a “demonologist” he accepts, seeing it as a free vacation for his teenage daughter and himself. But what he witnesses in an attic room at an address amidst the decadent splendour of the old city will change what he believes forever. Terrified, David races back to his hotel. But now he has the unshakable feeling that he is no longer alone. And that the voice that passes from his daughter’s lips before she jumps from the hotel’s roof belongs to a being he has long studied, but until now never thought could ever be real…”

Think of the hype over The DaVinci Code, Passion of the Christ, and the Harry Potter series. Now picture a popular novel that makes everyone all a twitter about Christian religion and myth being added to the mix. We’re talking instant money here. If the freakin’ Pope steps in, then it becomes epic money!

If this book and film is to succeed, it’ll need to focus on the translation of learned fear. So in the story, a skeptical man is exposed to the supernatural world. As he’s the foremost educated authority on the matter; just an unbeliever; he’s able to quickly realize how screwed he is. So how will the reader react? If they’re skeptics, will they be able to identify with Ullman’s pragmatic ways enough to also learn his fear? Pyper and Zemeckis will have their work cut out for them to pull this off. If they do, just think how much a pushover those that ‘want to believe’ will be.

Video Game Announced Based on DC Comics Young Justice

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and game publisher Little Orbit have announced a video game based on DC comics animated series Young Justice. The game will be called Young Justice: Legacy and feature playable heroes going against villains of the DC universe.

Here is the official release from the Little Orbit website:

Little Orbit, a worldwide game publisher, announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the Young Justice: Legacy video game set to ship in early 2013 for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Nintendo’s Wii(TM) system, and the Nintendo DS(TM) hand held system.

New episodes of the Warner Bros. Animation series Young Justice will air beginning Saturday, March 3, at 10:30 a.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network as part of DC Nation, the network’s brand-new one-hour block of exclusive kids’ television programming and shorts based on DC Comics characters. In Young Justice, teenage heroes Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis are tasked by the Justice League to act as their covert operations team. Armed with superior skills, weaponry and powers, the team must do battle against a wide array of villains from the DC Universe while trying to prove to themselves, and to their superhero mentors, that they too have what it takes to be a hero. Their journey is further complicated when they face the many unpredictable obstacles that arise in their path from inexperience and youth.

In Young Justice: Legacy fans can look forward to an original storyline set in between Seasons 1 and 2 of the television series, written in collaboration with show writers Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti. The game is packed with fan favorite playable characters, cameo appearances by popular Justice League heroes and villains, and includes online multiplayer as well as local multiplayer modes.

Video games based on movies tend to suck. Video games based on cartoons seem to not suck as much. The slew of Dragon Ball Z games, some Naruto games, and of course Batman games have been good. There was even a video game that was intentionally released before the cartoon version called Earthworm Jim. Hooray for him!

“The TV series is a fantastic combination of compelling writing, witty humor, iconic art, and exciting action sequences. The creators have done an amazing job blending over 180 DC Comics characters into their show filtered through a new, youthful perspective,” said Matt Scott, CEO of Little Orbit. “The new video game contains a slew of cool features and a large playable cast of familiar heroes, but our core mission is to create a unique experience that fits seamlessly into the world of the show and offers a new way to interact with these popular DC Comics characters.”

So the current Young Justice cartoon series isn’t based on the original DC comics series. It’s more of a reboot, like the Justice League series of animation and The New 52 reboot.

You can read what I have to say about The New 52 here.

DC comics even separates and distinguishes different reboots and continuities by identifying separate universes. The one that this series is set in is the fictional universe of Earth-16, where superheroes seem to be a recent phenomenon. This is definitely a good thing because between a lot of these young superheroes already have a dark and gritty history. For example, in some comic book universes Speedy or Red Arrow has been a junkie. Robin comes from a long and proud tradition of dying sidekicks; they all wear bright colors and distract villains from shooting the Batman. Then there’s Artemis who was a former homeless girl turned to child prostitution with accompanying STDs. Those were the ones I thought of off the top of my head. They can all thank the Last Son; of Krypton; that they didn’t have to grow up in those corrupted universes.

Having watched a few of the episodes, I’m starting to think I’m finally getting too old for this stuff. The Valley Girl voice acting of Miss Martian grates on my ears. The sound of Robin laughing like a child maniac and disappearing into the shadows is still cool though. I hope the video game ends up borrowing from the original comic series and features a playable Li’L Lobo; the magically transformed teenage version of Lobo, or as they would translate it in Khundian, “he who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it.”

The Hunger Games Beats Twilight’s Fandango Ticket Sales

I will go ahead and admit it, I bought tickets to The Hunger Games midnight showing on March 23rd. I am so excited for this film and apparently I am not alone. Many theaters sold out within hours of the preorder sale hitting the web. Many online ticket retailers began selling tickets for the upcoming film on February 22, almost a month before the movie is set to hit theaters.

Fandango, one of the worlds leading movie ticket sites, announced that the advance ticketing records were set by the big screen adaptation and that the film has already sold out hundreds of showtimes in advance of the film’s March 23 release date.

Even more stunning was that (as we have predicted would happen at this site) tickets for The Hunger Games preorder tickets broke the previous first day advance ticket-seller record held by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on Friday, May 14, 2010. We all kind of knew this was going to be a huge movie, but it definitely looks like it will be the next huge trilogy to grace the silver screen.

“‘The Hunger Games’ is off to a fantastic start,” says Rick Butler, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Fandango. “Yesterday we saw the biggest first day advance ticketing sales in our company’s nearly 12-year history – which is especially impressive for a March release and a non-sequel.”

Many theaters are continuing to add new showtimes as a way to please fans and accommodate the demand for opening weekend tickets.

It definitely looks like Lionsgate made the right choice picking up The Hunger Games trilogy. These movies are going to be huge and with three more movies to follow, you can safely say it is going to be dominating the movie franchise world for a while.