STACK #232 February 2024

FEATURE MOVIE

• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of

Songbirds & Snakes is out Feb 14

HOW LIONSGATE ROBBED PETER TO PAY PAUL

Formerly Cinépix, Lionsgate Films was formed in the late 1990s on the North Shore of Vancouver, Canada, and began making a series of major acquisitions, including several smaller production facilities and distributors. During their first year, the company had a revenue of $42.2 million with a loss of $397,000, which forced them to reduce acquisitions and shift their public listing from the Canadian Stock Exchange to the American Stock Exchange. Despite major cash injections from various investors and boasting major films such as the Saw and Twilight franchises to their name, Lionsgate struggled to stay afloat and even pillaged other production budgets to secure the $88 million needed to make 2012’s The Hunger Games . The film went on to gross $695.2 million – the company’s first profit in over five years – and the rest is history. Overall, The Hunger Games film franchise has since earned $3.3 billion.

Jason Schwartzman

”He’s Juilliard trained, and so good at his craft, but also brings a real intelligence and sophistication to the role. So he was a really great find.” Just to make absolutely sure he had found the right match, Lawrence even arranged for Zegler to take Blyth unawares by singing to him during a test audition. ”Before we locked the two of them in, we had a Zoom chemistry test,” he explains. ”I think Tom was in New York and Rachel was in London, and I had her sing an a cappella version of Wildwood Flower to him – just to see him watch her, and see what that energy was like. And I knew that the chemistry was there, just from that one Zoom moment,” he recalls. For his own part, Blyth avidly studied Suzanne Collins’ best-selling Hunger Games books in preparation for his role. ”Coriolanus is such a complex character,” he tells us. ”We see him go from this young man who is troubled and fighting for his family, to someone with a driving and dark ambition.” Zegler’s role was, the actress says, less complicated than Blyth’s, given the way Lucy Gray wears her heart on her sleeve. ”The way I approached Lucy Gray was that she’s only there for her family, her friends, and herself,” Zegler says. ”That’s why her relationship with Coriolanus is so interesting. We’re led to believe, by the lyrics of her songs, that she’s been wronged by many people – particularly by men. So she is hesitant to trust, and challenges Snow to rise to her level of intimidation.”

Rachel Zegler andTom Blyth

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