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Catching Fire Movie News

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'Catching Fire' Target 3-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pak Giveaway

We reviewed all the different versions of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on DVD and Blu-Ray in this post and our favorite version by far was the Target 3-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pak. Since we picked that one as our fave, we figured that it was the version we should give away to you!

Use the widget below to enter the GIVEAWAY by Sunday, March 16th at midnight. This contest is open to international fans. We will give away THREE copies of this combo-pak.

Here's what's included in the Target 3-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pak:

Disc 1: the film on Blu-Ray, audio commentary with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, Blu-ray exclusive 9-part making-of documentary: “Surviving The Game”, deleted scenes, Divergent sneak peek
Disc 2: the film on DVD, audio commentary with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, deleted scenes, Divergent sneak peek
Disc 3: DVD Bonus disc - 3 featurettes:

• One Vision (A Faithful Adaptation)--translating Suzanne Collin's source material to the big screen
• The Alliance (Returning Cast)--an inside look at the close-knit relationships of the returning actors
• Friend or For (New Cast)--finding the perfect embodiments of the new characters

Plus the digital HD Ultraviolet copy

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

NOTE: We have not received any promotional material or incentives from Target and aren't affiliated with them in any way. We just really love this version! We DID get an advance copy from Lionsgate, along with a bunch of the other versions. (See our full review HERE) We're keeping that one for ourselves and bought additional copies for this giveaway.

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2 New Behind The Scenes Photos of the 'Catching Fire' Chariot Scene

The magic of movie making. #Katniss and #Peeta on their chariot!Marian Green (District 9 female tribute) posted a couple of cool behind the scenes Catching Fire photos to her twitter today. They show Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Marian and her fellow D9 tribute, Daniel Bernhardt, filming the chariot scene.

As we learned in a recent Flickering Myth post, the actors, horses and chariots were about the only things not digitally created for the Avenue of the Tributes scene. The magic of movies, indeed!

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'Catching Fire' Is Nominated for 7 MTV Movie Awards

The MTV Movie Awards nominations were announced this morning and Catching Fire is nominated in 7 categories. Jennifer Lawrence is also nominated in 2 categories for American Hustle.

I do have to say WTF about a couple of things. NO BEST KISS for the Everlark beach scene?! And no Katniss for Best Hero? Duh.

You can vote HERE.

MOVIE OF THE YEAR
• "12 Years a Slave"
• "American Hustle"
• "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
• "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• "The Wolf of Wall Street"

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
• Amy Adams — "American Hustle"
• Jennifer Aniston — "We're the Millers"
• Sandra Bullock — "Gravity"
• Jennifer Lawrence — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Lupita Nyong'o — "12 Years a Slave"

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
• Bradley Cooper — "American Hustle"
• Leonardo DiCaprio — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Chiwetel Ejiofor — "12 Years a Slave"
• Josh Hutcherson — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Matthew McConaughey — "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST FIGHT
• "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" — Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell vs. James Marsden vs. Sacha Baron Cohen vs. Kanye West vs. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler vs. Jim Carrey and Marion Cotillard vs. Will Smith vs. Liam Neeson and John C. Reilly vs. Greg Kinnear
• "Identity Thief" — Jason Bateman vs. Melissa McCarthy
• "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" — Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly vs. Orcs
• "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" — Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Sam Claflin vs. Mutant Monkeys
• "This is the End" — Jonah Hill vs. James Franco and Seth Rogen

BEST SHIRTLESS PERFORMANCE
• Jennifer Aniston — "We're the Millers"
• Sam Claflin — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Leonardo DiCaprio — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Zac Efron — "That Awkward Moment"
• Chris Hemsworth — "Thor: The Dark World"

BEST VILLAIN
• Barkhad Abdi — "Captain Phillips"
• Benedict Cumberbatch — "Star Trek into Darkness"
• Michael Fassbender — "12 Years a Slave"
• Mila Kunis — "Oz The Great and Powerful"
• Donald Sutherland — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"

BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION
• Christian Bale — "American Hustle"
• Elizabeth Banks — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Orlando Bloom — "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
• Jared Leto — "Dallas Buyers Club"
• Matthew McConaughey — "Dallas Buyers Club"

The MTV Movie Awards hosted by Conan O'Brien will air Live on Sunday, April 13th. 

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New 'Catching Fire' Deleted Scene "Train Station" Features Katniss

L.A. Times Hero Complex debuted a deleted scene from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire DVD, out tomorrow. The scene is called "Train Station" and features Katniss coming off the train from the Victory Tour telling her sister and mother to pack their things and get ready to leave District 12.

Check out the video at Hero Complex or click the image above. See our review of all the available Catching Fire versions and where to buy them HERE.

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Jena Malone Fangirls Over 'Catching Fire' As Much As We Do!

Concept sketch of Johanna Mason's chariot costume in Catching Fire

Jena Malone recently spoke with Jarett Wiesleman of BuzzFeed about the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on Blu-Ray and DVD on March 7th. “Can I just fangirl out for a second?”she asked before talking about the Blu-ray as though she were one of its many admirers as opposed to one of its stars. “There is so much behind-the-scenes footage. We had so much fun on Catching Fire that I’m just excited to sit down and watch.”

Buzzfeed also has an exclusive behind the scenes Catching Fire clip all about Johanna's look. You can watch the video HERE.

“I learned so much about myself through playing Johanna. I knew I had strength as an actor, but Johanna taught me how incredibly strong I could be emotionally, that I could intimidate an entire room with just the energy I walked in with. You can really do some damage through how you carry yourself in life.”


And thanks to her 16-year-old sister, Malone is also aware of the powerful role movies play in shaping the next generation. “My sister really looks to cinema for a lot. Whether it’s purposely or subconsciously, it’s partly how she learns to be good at this or bad at that, how she learns about body issues, and how she learns to deal with friends,” she explained.

That’s why Malone wants every character she plays to have purpose, whether it’s within the film world or the real world. “At the end of the day, film has such an eternal shelf life — my movies will last longer than I’m going to last, so I might as well be making things I think are important, playing women I find inspiring, and playing characters that I would want my children to look up to.”

As a longtime fan of The Hunger Games book series, Malone chased the role of Johanna, recognizing that with its underlying themes of social equality, Catching Fire had much more on its agenda than pure, popcorn pleasures. And LGBT equality is a cause close to Malone’s heart since she grew up with two moms.

“The message of the film is amazing,” she continued. “As a society, we’re much further than where we were when I was younger and I love that people are so much more accepting and loving. Families can focus on just giving love now. That’s the most important thing. I think that’s an incredible time to be a part of.”

Now, after nearly two decades in this business, Malone is preparing her next big endeavor: releasing an album with her band The Shoe on June 3. “I think every young woman should constantly be wanting to surprise herself and constantly be pushing herself until the day she dies,” she said. “I will always be a storyteller, and I’m just excited there are now so many different ways I will get to tell my stories.”

Catching Fire is available March 7th!

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'Catching Fire' Visual Effects Team on Bringing The World of Panem To Life

Plus Check Out Some New Stills From The Film!

I think we can all agree that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was visually stunning. Francis Lawrence delivered the follow up to The Hunger Games with grander scope and scale than the first installment, showing us a whole lot more of Panem. But you probably didn't realize just how much of Catching Fire's Panem was actually created by the visual effects department.

Flickering Myth just posted an amazing interview with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire visual effects team where they discuss all the technical aspects of creating the film's digital world. Trevor Hogg chatted with production visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs, visual effects producer Mitchell Ferm, and visual effects supervisors Adrian de Wet, Stéphane Nazé, Paul Butterworth, and Guy Williams about bringing to the big screen a spinning island, raging monkeys and a futuristic society that stages lethal survival games.


What We Learned:
Effects in movies are a bit like magic tricks that rely on deception and misdirection; having visual effects, special effects, and stunts keep the audience guessing as to what exactly they are looking at, or how the shots are achieved.


The Arena is not really the Arena:
The jungle arena could never exist in reality or be built as a practical set, so a good amount of VFX work went into creating a virtual environment for a hyper-reality that we’re hoping people would swear was shot on location.

We couldn't have created a full-on practical spinning Cornucopia island for the scene where Plutarch rotates it, so that action sequence had to be fabricated from a full-size static set, a smaller SPFX-spinning partial set piece, and a completely digital island, all working in conjunction with one another.

We constructed a 360° blue screen around a rotating Cornucopia partial set piece [dubbed the ‘spinning biscuit’]. All that churning water is CG.

All the water-based action scenes at the centre of the Arena were shot almost entirely at a waterpark outside Atlanta, where we constructed a full-size island, two spoke-like rocky paths leading from it, and a couple of the pedestals that the Tributes emerge up into the Arena on. In the final shots, the entire surrounding ocean water, beaches, and jungle blowing in the breeze have all been added digitally. It takes a bit of will power to continually overlook Katniss running past childrens’ water slides, and ornamental fountains, for many weeks [during shooting], until the real jungle environments finally start to show up in shots, and the sequence becomes what was originally intended.


Ironically, the real Hawaiian shorelines didn’t feel tropical enough to match the hot/humid environment we were trying to convey, and their look was based more upon jungles you might find in places like Costa Rica, right down to the condensation on the wet leaves, and hanging mist rolling down from the hillsides. The challenge with creating the digital jungle was really just the sheer complexity of the foliage. Trees had to be modelled and rigged down to the individual leaf and frond detail level so that we could get them to realistically flutter, and sway in a simulated breeze [without which the jungle would have simply looked dead].”

The Avenue of The Tributes is almost all digital


The chariots in the Avenue scene were all shot in a big empty parking lot at the Atlanta Speedway, and the only pieces of physical set construction were a partial archway [and immediately adjacent bleachers] that the chariots emerge from, and the Presidential seating area.  Everything else – the other archways, bleachers, crowds, and surrounding buildings were all added digitally. We only had six practical chariots so you’re often looking at digital Tribute doubles and horses/chariots in the wider shots. Only the actors, chariots, and a few small sections of bleachers for that sequence were real, shot against green containers stacked a few stories high.

All the Capitol buildings, details, road surface, skies, and mountains are digital. The cheering, waving crowd in the bleachers are a mixture of crowd elements shot over a couple of days of second unit photography, and motion captured digital extras.

And of course we created the fire effect on Katniss and Peeta’s costumes. We took our inspiration from the ornate patterns on the costumes themselves that we imagined as radiant hot metal elements. We added licks of gas-like orange flames, flying embers, and a hint of dirty smoke to complete the look.

Katniss' Arrow Count Continuity Was A Huge Task (and they sort of failed - we counted!)


An interesting continuity task involved keeping track of the arrows in Katniss’ quiver.  Whilst Jennifer sometimes had a number of real arrows in her quiver on set, she could never actually fire a real arrow for safety reasons, so all of the arrow firing was mimed and CG arrows added. We always needed to make sure she had the right number of arrows in her quiver at any point in time, always accounting for ones that she had fired along the way. You’d be surprised at how long it took to lock the arrow counts down!



There is SO much information in the article, so please head over to Flickering Myth.com to read the entire thing - it's a massive article. They talk about everything from the practical aspects of making Katniss' mockingjay dress transformation believable to the holograms in the training center and the slight redesign of the hovercrafts.

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New 'Catching Fire' Featurette - Creating Caesar Flickerman

Check out another featurette from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. This one is about how they created Caesar Flickerman's look for the film. Stanley Tucci, Make-up supervisor Ve Neill and Hair Department head Linda Flowers are featured in this closer look at crafting Caesar's distinctive fabulousness.

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Which 'Catching Fire' DVD or Blu-Ray Version Should You Buy? Start Here!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US on March 7th, and the question we're hearing more than ANY other question is: "Which version should I buy?!" Well, tributes, we're here to help. Lionsgate Home Entertainment was generous enough to give us one of each version so we could compare the features and benefits and help make your shopping a little easier.

Target 3-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pak

I'll tell you right off the bat that I'm a complete collector (hoarder?) and want ALL POSSIBLE Hunger Games footage in my possession. If it's a Special Feature, I. Must. Have. It. So, MY personal fave is the Target 3-disc collector’s set.

The three discs come in a very cool book-bound case with a photo on each page: Katniss, Peeta, Finnick and Gale. This version has the MOST special features.

Disc 1: the film on Blu-Ray, audio commentary with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, Blu-ray exclusive 9-part making-of documentary: “Surviving The Game”, deleted scenes, Divergent sneak peek
Disc 2: the film on DVD, audio commentary with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, deleted scenes, Divergent sneak peek
Disc 3: DVD Bonus disc - 3 featurettes:

• One Vision (A Faithful Adaptation)--translating Suzanne Collin's source material to the big screen
• The Alliance (Returning Cast)--an inside look at the close-knit relationships of the returning actors
• Friend or For (New Cast)--finding the perfect embodiments of the new characters

Plus the digital HD Ultraviolet copy

$24.99 at Target

Best Buy Steelbook Front & Back

Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook Blu-Ray

This version comes with the movie on Blu-Ray only, audio commentary with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, Blu-ray exclusive 9-part making-of documentary: “Surviving The Game”, deleted scenes, Divergent sneak peek + $8.00 Fandango cash (a redeemable code). Plus the digital HD Ultraviolet copy.

Inside the SteelBook packagingThis version is great if you ONLY want the Blu-Ray. It does not have the 45 minutes of extra content (3 featurettes) included on the Target bonus disc but it DOES have the awesome making-of documentary and deleted scenes.

$29.99 at Best Buy (but on sale for $22.99 at press time)

Amazon Blu-Ray+DVD+Digital Copy

Amazon Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy

This version comes with the movie on Blu-Ray and DVD, audio commentary with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, Blu-ray exclusive 9-part making-of documentary: “Surviving The Game”, deleted scenes and Divergent sneak peek. Basic DVD packaging.

$19.99 at Amazon

Note: Amazon also has a DVD + Digital Ultraviolet copy version that comes with audio commentary by Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson, deleted scenes and Divergent sneak peek for $15.99. It has NO 9-part making-of documentary: “Surviving The Game” - That's a Blu-Ray ONLY exclusive feature.

Walmart Exclusive 2 Movie SetWalmart 2-Movie Set

Walmart has a 2 movie set on DVD in their exclusive lenticular packaging (which is just a sticker on the cover of a basic dvd package, fyi).This version contains The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on DVD plus the digital ultraviolet versions of both movies. No special features at all, only the feature films are included. It's definitely for more of a casual fan who doesn't care to see all the behind the scenes stuff. I'm a "more is more" type of fan so this is NOT for me. Sorry, Walmart.

$24.99 at Walmart

Bottom line: My opinion is, if you want EVERYTHING, get the Target version. Even if you don't have a Blu-Ray player, you'll have the bonus disc (Disc 3, which is a DVD) with 45 minutes of behind the scenes content, and you'll get the audio commentary, the deleted scenes and the Divergent sneak peek on the dvd disc (Disc 2). Take the Blu-Ray to your Blu-Ray owning friend's house and have a slumber party to watch the 9-part making-of documentary!

See them all at CatchingFireMovie.com

Follow up note: I watched/listened to the audio commentary with Francis & Nina. It is absolute GOLD. They basically talk over the ENTIRE FILM. So, don't watch it your first time because you hear almost no diagogue. But what you DO hear is Francis talking about every choice he made in filming/cutting and why. And both of them talking about the adaptation and why choices were made cinematically. They also give out some tiny but awesome nuggets about Mockingjay. They both speak with such a passion for the books and the film. It's a MUST for the fangirl/fanboy.

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Walmart 'Catching Fire' DVD Midnight Release Events & Cast Appearances

Wondering where to purchase your Catching Fire DVD or Blu-ray? Walmart is sweetening the deal by hosting midnight release events and special cast signings in New York Area, Los Angeles Area and Chicago Area.

At 12am on March 7, more than 2,000 Walmart stores will celebrate the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD with special giveaways. The first 50 fans to purchase the movie in-stores will receive the limited edition poster below.

THREE stores will feature in-store cast signing events and will open even earlier - at 11:00pm on Thursday, March 6. Willow Shields (Primrose Everdeen), Lynn Cohen (Mags), Stephanie Leigh Schlund (Cashmere), Meta Golding (Enobaria) and Bruno Gunn (Brutus) will be at stores to meet with fans and sign copies of the new release The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD.

Los Angeles/Orange County Area:

Willow Shields

11:00pm March 6th

Walmart: 2300 N Tustin St, Orange, CA 92865

New York/New Jersey:

Lynn Cohen and Stephanie Leigh Schlund

11:00pm March 6th

Walmart Supercenter: 400 Park Pl, Secaucus, NJ 07094

Chicago:

Meta Golding and Bruno Gunn

11:00pm March 6th

Walmart Supercenter 1100 S Randall Rd, Elgin, IL 60123

 

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Willow Shields Talks All About 'Catching Fire' + A New Set Photo!

Willow Shields with Francis Lawrence and Paula Malcomson on setTo celebrate the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on DVD and Blu-Ray March 7th, Willow Shields spoke with Socialite Life about making the movie, her role as Primrose Everdeen and some of her favorite aspects of the film. Plus we get a new behind the scenes set photo!

What is your favorite thing about Prim’s evolution?
My favorite thing is just how mature she’s getting, and how much she’s kind of there for Katniss now. I think it’s a great evolution from starting as such a young girl who has gone through so much in her life to coming out with strength instead of sadness.

What is your favorite thing about Katniss and Prim’s relationship?
My favorite thing is that we really realize that bond from the beginning. The whole reason Katniss goes into The Hunger Games is to save her sister. I think it’s such a strong bond from the beginning and travels on throughout the whole series. There’s a sort of  role reversal where Prim is really there for Katniss, but they always have that strong bond throughout the whole series.

Besides the trailer scene, what was your favorite scene to watch?
I really loved seeing all the scenes in the arena because I’m filming scenes in District 12. But when they to all the scenes in the arena I haven’t really seen any glimpses of what’s going on in the arena, or what they’re filming for the arena scenes. I’m like a fan going to see the movie because I almost don’t know what to expect in the arena scenes.

Was there anything that surprised you about how the arena was depicted?
Not really. I just thought all the new tributes they used in the arena were really great. Everyone who portrayed them, they portrayed them perfectly.

I really enjoyed Finnick. Were there any characters that stood out to you out of the newbies?
I really liked Finnick, too and I thought it was fun to see Sam [Claflin] bring that character to life. I really enjoyed seeing Jena [Malone] play Joanna. It’s such a different character for the series. It was fun to see how different that character is. It’s a good touch to  the series because in Catching Fire it almost added comedy. That was really cool.

What were your thoughts on the relationship between Katniss and Joanna?
I think both Jenn [Lawrence] and Jena did a fantastic job at doing that the right way. There is a little bit of that tension. Everyone realizes in the end they are all looking for that same thing. That is freedom and just being with their families — faith, and just being there for each other.

Between the first two stories, which character for you think has evolved the most?
I think Liam [Hemsworth] — Gale — has evolved a lot. I think that he’s such a good actor and it’s so fun to see all the scenes he has. It’s fun to see all the scenes he has because he does really well at it.

Were there any pranks in between scenes?
Not really. There was a lot of goofing off. In one scene – it’s a pretty serious scene and I have that cat with me in Catching Fire. She [Jennifer] is in the corner with cat toys trying to get me to laugh. You know, Jenn has set out to make people laugh in scenes when she’s not on camera. That can make it very challenging. She’s definitely taught me a lot.

Has Jennifer Lawrence given you any advice?
She’s given me advice about being who I am about being who I am and not changing because of Hollywood. That’s good advice and I’m definitely going to remember that. She hasn’t changed at all and that’s great. She’s such a fun person to work with.

Why should fans go get the DVD immediately after its release?
It would be really fun because you get an up close feel about what it’s like on set. A really fun behind-the-scenes and deleted scenes. For fans it’s a great experience because they get to witness what goes on on set and how we make a movie.

Who is your celebrity crush?
Right now my celebrity crush is Ansel Elgort. He’s going to be in The Fault in Our Stars which is my favorite book right now. It’s partially because I love the character he plays in The Fault in Our Stars.

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