How Will Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Affect ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’?
As movie fans all over the world mourn the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, executives at Lionsgate find themselves facing a potential calamity. With one of the most important actors in their massively successful 'Hunger Games' franchise no longer with us, how do they move forward?
Much like how Universal had to scramble to rework 'Fast and Furious 7' following the death of Paul Walker, Lionsgate has to make some tough decisions in the immediate wake of tragedy because millions of dollars and countless jobs are on the line. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there were still five months of shooting left on both 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' and 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2,' which were being filmed back-to-back. Execs at Lionsgate held an emergency meeting today to figure out how to move forward.
Here's what we know:
Hoffman had completed his work on Part 1 and had only seven days of shooting left on Part 2. One major scene in the second film will require some rewrites before the production gets back into gear, but most of his performance as mysterious Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee was already in the can. According to Lionsgate, the films' respective release dates of November 21, 2014 and November 20, 2015 will not be changed. Even in the face of tragedy, business is business.
Other projects are affected by Hoffman's death as well. He was gearing up to direct Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams in 'Ezekiel Moss,' and his Showtime TV series 'Happyish' was getting strong buzz. He also recently appeared in 'A Most Wanted Man' and 'God's Pocket,' both of which were just acquired at the Sundance Film Festival.
We'll keep you posted as we learn more in the coming weeks.