Catching Fire

The sequel to The Hunger Games (2012), it is the second installment in The Hunger Games film series. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. In the film, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the Games inspire uprisings in Panem.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Francis Lawrence
Screenplay by	Simon Beaufoy Michael deBruyn
Based on	Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Produced by	Nina Jacobson Jon Kilik
Starring	Jennifer Lawrence Josh Hutcherson Liam Hemsworth Woody Harrelson Elizabeth Banks Lenny Kravitz Philip Seymour Hoffman Jeffrey Wright Stanley Tucci Donald Sutherland
Cinematography	Jo Willems
Edited by	Alan Edward Bell
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production companies	Color Force Lionsgate
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release dates	November 11, 2013 (2013-11-11) (Odeon Leicester Square) November 22, 2013 (2013-11-22) (United States)
Running time	146 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$130–140 million
Box office	$865 million

Lionsgate announced a sequel film based on Collins' second Hunger Games novel in 2012, with Gary Ross initially set to return as director; Ross was replaced with Lawrence that May, while deBruyn completed several rewrites to Beaufoy's screenplay. The main cast was confirmed by September 2012 and principal photography began later that month, lasting until March 2013. Filming locations included Georgia, Hawaii, and New Jersey.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on November 11, 2013, and was released in the United States on November 22, by Lionsgate. The film, often considered the best in the series, received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Lawrence's performance, its themes, action sequences, musical score, screenplay, visual effects, and emotional depth. It grossed $865 million, setting the then-records for biggest November opening weekend and the biggest Thanksgiving period box-office totals; it is the highest-grossing Lionsgate and The Hunger Games film, the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2013, and the highest-grossing film featuring a female lead since The Exorcist (1973).

Among its accolades, the film was nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Action Film and a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. For her performance, Lawrence was nominated for the Empire Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, and Saturn Award for Best Actress. The soundtrack's lead single, "Atlas" by Coldplay, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

The film was followed by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 in 2014.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have settled into a life of material comfort and emotional unease back in District 12 following their joint victory in the 74th Hunger Games. Katniss was traumatized from the Games and remains emotionally distant from Peeta. President Snow visits Katniss and reveals that her defiance in the Games has inspired revolts across Panem. To suppress the rebellion, he demands that she and Peeta feign love during the Victory Tour, threatening to destroy District 12 and kill their families if they refuse.

During their Victory Tour, Katniss and Peeta's speeches only lead to further unrest across the districts. The two publicly announce their engagement in an attempt to persuade Panem's citizens of their love. However, President Snow and the districts remain unconvinced. At the Capitol, Katniss meets the mysterious new head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee. Upon returning home, Katniss witnesses the brutality of the Capitol's Peacekeepers. Gale is publicly whipped for trying to intervene in their beating of civilians, leading to a violent confrontation that results in Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch's involvement.

The 75th Hunger Games, also known as the third Quarter Quell, is announced with a twist: tributes are to be selected from the existing pool of victors. As the only living female victor from District 12, Katniss is forced to compete in the Games. At the reaping Effie draws Haymitch’s name but Peeta immediately volunteers in his place. In a last attempt to halt the Games, Peeta announces during his pre-Games interview that he and Katniss had already married and are expecting a child, leading to a further outcry by Capitol's citizens. As ordered by Snow, Katniss wears a wedding dress for her interview, but Cinna, her stylist, designs it to shift into a mockingjay symbol. Just before Katniss enters the arena, Cinna is brutally beaten in front of her and later killed for altering the dress.

In the Games, Katniss and Peeta form an alliance with Finnick Odair and the elderly Mags from District 4. They encounter a deadly poisonous fog at night; and when Peeta is hurt, Mags sacrifices herself so the others can escape. The group also fights a pack of genetically mutated mandrills, during which the female tribute from District 6 sacrifices herself to save Peeta.

Fleeing to the beach, the group unites with Beetee and Wiress from District 3, and Johanna Mason, the female tribute from District 7. Wiress discovers that the arena is designed like a clock, with dangers recurring at set intervals. The group is suddenly ambushed by the Careers. Katniss and Johanna kill Gloss and Cashmere, but Wiress is also killed in the encounter.

Beetee proposes a plan to lure the remaining Careers to the wet beach and electrocute them using the lightning strikes recurring every 12 hours. The group splits to prepare the trap, laying a wire from a tree to the shoreline. When District 2 tributes Brutus and Enobaria appear, Johanna incapacitates Katniss, cutting the tracker out of her arm before fleeing. Katniss finds an unconscious Beetee, apparently electrocuted by contact with the arena's force field. Unable to find Peeta and hearing a cannon, Katniss nearly attacks Finnick, suspecting his betrayal, but he reminds her to "remember who the real enemy is." Katniss attaches the wire to an arrow, firing it into the arena's roof just as lightning strikes. The electricity travels along the wire, destroying the arena's force fields, and causing its computer systems to fail. Katniss is knocked unconscious by the lightning strike and is picked up by a hovercraft.

Katniss awakes in the hovercraft and finds Haymitch, Finnick, a still-unconscious Beetee, and Heavensbee, who is revealed to be a rebel against Snow. Haymitch tells her they are bound for District 13, headquarters of the new rebellion. He reveals that Katniss is the face of the rebellion, and half of the tributes were in on the plan to rescue her. However, Peeta and Johanna were captured by the Capitol. Enraged, Katniss attacks Haymitch for violating his promise to save Peeta before she is sedated. She awakens in District 13 with Gale. He reassures her that her family is safe, but that District 12 has been destroyed by the Capitol.

Pre-production

Lionsgate announced that a film adaptation of Catching Fire would be released as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on November 22, 2013, as a sequel to the film adaptation of The Hunger Games, with principal photography to take place in September 2012. Simon Beaufoy was hired to write the script for the film and wrote two drafts before leaving after Gary Ross, director of The Hunger Games decided not to direct the sequel. The shooting timeframe was co-ordinated between Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox, in order to allow time for Jennifer Lawrence to shoot X-Men: Days of Future Past, the sequel to Fox's X-Men: First Class, in January 2013.

On April 10, 2012, it was announced that Gary Ross, director of The Hunger Games, would not return due to a 'tight' and 'fitted' schedule. Ross cited the lack of time he had for directing and writing the film in the three and a half months after the release of the first film as the reason for leaving the franchise, hence his decision to move on to direct Free State of Jones. Bennett Miller, Joe Cornish, Francis Lawrence and Juan Antonio Bayona were all being considered to direct the new film. On April 19, 2012, it was announced that Francis Lawrence was offered the director position for the film. Lionsgate officially announced Francis Lawrence as the director for Catching Fire on May 3, 2012. Two days later, it was reported that Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine) was in talks to re-write the script for Catching Fire. On May 24, 2012, the film was renamed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Arndt was confirmed as the new writer of the script. Arndt was paid $400,000 a week for re-writing the script.

According to sources, the adaptation needed to be done filming by December 2012 to fit Jennifer Lawrence's schedule. When X-Men: Days of Future Past lost its original director and shooting for the film was delayed till April 2013, Jennifer Lawrence was no longer needed to be filming in January 2013 and the shooting timeframe for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was extended to March (including several breaks due to the holidays and awards season). The film featured sequences filmed in the IMAX format.

Casting

In July 2012, it was announced that Jena Malone would portray Johanna Mason, that Amanda Plummer would portray Wiress, and that Philip Seymour Hoffman would portray Plutarch Heavensbee. Following this, in August 2012, it was announced that Lynn Cohen had been cast as Mags. Alan Ritchson was cast as Gloss on August 9, Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair on August 22, and Jeffrey Wright as Beetee on September 7.

Filming

Lawrence, Hutcherson and Hemsworth all dyed their hair for the movie once again. Lawrence went back into archery training in order to get in shape for the role while the supporting cast undertook training in preparation for the arena scenes.

Production officially began on September 10, 2012, with shooting concluding for some of the cast on December 21, 2012. After the Christmas break, filming resumed for two weeks in mid January for some of the main cast and was placed on hold for awards season. Principal photography resumed and concluded in March 2013. Shooting first took place in and around metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia and then moved to Hawaii, to shoot the arena scenes. The cast and crew were on a busy schedule, working 14-hour days and six days a week. In an interview with MTV, Josh Hutcherson confirmed scenes in the film would use IMAX cameras by stating, "They're shooting, I think, all the stuff in the arena is going to be IMAX". Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth were in Ringwood, New Jersey shooting District 12 scenes involving snow for the beginning of the film on January 31 and February 1. Jennifer Lawrence confirmed that she would fly out to Hawaii on February 25, the day after she won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 85th Academy Awards to shoot for the final 9 days along with Claflin and Hutcherson.

In late March, filming occurred in the Universal Studios backlot and was kept extremely secretive. Witnesses reported towers and fences on set. None of the main cast were believed to have been on set. Reshoots were scheduled for April 13 in Atlanta. With the base camp set up at Executive Park off North Druid Hills Road, filming also occurred at the Goat Farm Arts Center.

Francis Lawrence has estimated an hour of the film would be devoted to Arena scenes, and said that cameras would be mounted to avoid the shaky-cam look from the first film. In an IMAX featurette, Francis Lawrence also confirmed that scenes taking place in the Arena were shot on IMAX cameras to distinguish them from scenes external to the Arena. Approximately 50 minutes of the film's footage was shot in the IMAX format, through the use of three IMAX 15 perf/65mm film cameras.

Costumes

Sarah Burton, creative director at Alexander McQueen, gave pieces of McQueen's collection to costume designer Trish Summerville. Summerville collaborated with Indonesian designer Tex Saverio when designing Katniss' wedding dress for the Quarter Quell interviews.

Soundtrack

British singer Ed Sheeran recorded three songs for the soundtrack, but Lionsgate declined the offer. On May 14, 2013, Alexandra Patsavas was listed in the credits as music supervisor, replacing T Bone Burnett from the first film. Coldplay were announced as the first official artist to be featured on the Catching Fire soundtrack album, with the song "Atlas", released worldwide on September 6, 2013. Christina Aguilera announced that her song, "We Remain", would be part of the official soundtrack of the film. Other artists featured on the soundtrack include Of Monsters and Men with "Silhouettes", Sia featuring The Weeknd & Diplo with "Elastic Heart", The National with "Lean", The Weeknd with "Devil May Cry", Imagine Dragons with "Who We Are", Lorde with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", The Lumineers with "Gale Song", Ellie Goulding with "Mirror", Patti Smith with "Capitol Letter", Santigold with "Shooting Arrows at the Sky", Mikky Ekko with "Place for Us", Phantogram with "Lights", and Antony and the Johnsons with "Angel on Fire".

Score

In October 2012, composer James Newton Howard confirmed that he would return to score the film. The score album was released on November 25, 2013. All songs written and composed by James Newton Howard, except "We're a Team" (co-written by Coldplay band members: Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin).

Marketing

On November 16, 2012, the first teaser trailer was released with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and revealed the official logo and tagline for the film. Lionsgate announced a sweepstakes competition where 12 fans would have their name listed in the film's credits. On January 11, 2013, Entertainment Weekly released a 2013 Preview edition of their magazine, with the first look of Lawrence as Katniss and Claflin as Finnick on the cover as well as several stills showcasing scenes from the film. On February 22, both Hitfix and the official Facebook page debuted two viral posters of the Victory Tour featuring Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta).

On January 28, 2013, CapitolCouture.PN, a promotional site for the film's fashion and culture, opened and could only be unlocked with a passcode. Once in, a picture of a blue chair appeared and told readers to check back on March 4. On March 4, 2013, the site began to release portraits of the various characters.

Alongside the announcement of the teaser trailer premiering at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, Lionsgate revealed a new website called TheHungerGamesExplorer. On April 10, the website was updated and fans had to tweet using the hashtag #HungerGamesExplorer to unlock new stills from the movie. A still could be unlocked every day leading up to April 14, 2013, the teaser trailer's release date.

The teaser trailer thus debuted at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards on April 14, presented by Liam Hemsworth, and the trailer was posted on TheHungerGamesExplorer and YouTube after the ceremony. "Beyond Fire" by T.T.L. was played as the trailer music.

An exclusive new trailer debuted at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 20, 2013, also being released online on that day. Walmart released the first TV spot on their Facebook page on October 14, featuring Coldplay's song, "Atlas".

On October 27, 2013, during the fifth inning of Game 4 of the 2013 World Series, the final trailer was released. Three days later, on October 30, 2013, a new IMAX poster for the film debuted.

Theatrical

The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square theater in London on November 11, 2013. The film was later released on November 22, 2013, in the United States in conventional and IMAX theaters. The film was also shown in the 4DX format in selected international territories. It features motion-enhanced seating, wind, water sprays, strobe lightning, and scent-based special effects. The film was released in 4,165 theaters in the United States and Canada alone.

Home media

The Blu-ray/DVD release date for the film in the United States was March 7, 2014. The entire Hunger Games series was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on November 8, 2016.

Actresses Lynn Cohen and Stephanie Leigh Schlund, who played Mags and Cashmere in the film, respectively, promoted the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film with an appearance at the March 7, 2014 midnight release of the product at the Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey. As of March 16, 2014, Catching Fire has sold 2,073,719 DVDs along with 2,186,430 Blu-ray discs for $35.4 million and $43.8 million, respectively, totaling $79.4 million of revenue within two weeks of release.

Box office

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire earned $424.7 million in North America and $440.3 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $865 million. Worldwide, it is the highest-grossing film of The Hunger Games series, the highest-grossing film distributed by Lionsgate and the fifth-highest-grossing 2013 film.

In North America, Catching Fire is the 30th-highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing film of The Hunger Games series, the highest-grossing film distributed by Lionsgate and the highest-grossing 2013 film. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold more than 50 million tickets in the United States and Canada. It became the first 2-D film since The Dark Knight (2008), as well as the first film with a female lead since The Exorcist (1973), to top the yearly box office. It is also the top-selling film in Fandango history, surpassing previous record-holder Avatar. The film earned $25.3 million during Thursday late-night showings. It topped the box office on its opening day with $71.0 million (including Thursday late-night showings), which is higher than its predecessor's opening-day gross ($67.3 million) and is also the seventh largest single-day and opening-day gross. During its opening weekend, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire claimed first place with $158.1 million, opening higher than its predecessor ($152.5 million). This was the sixth-highest-grossing opening weekend, the second-highest-grossing opening weekend of 2013 behind Iron Man 3 ($174.1 million), and the highest-grossing opening weekend in November, breaking the record set by The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($142.9 million) in 2009. The film held the November weekend record for nine years until it was topped in 2022 by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($181.3 million). It was in first place for two consecutive weekends. The film also broke the following records: the biggest Friday for a film in its second weekend, the largest three-day ($74.2 million) and largest five-day ($109.9 million) Thanksgiving gross. The latter two records would be held until 2019 when they were both surpassed by Frozen II. The film achieved the fifth-highest-grossing opening week (Friday-to-Thursday), the third-highest non-opening Wednesday and the fourth-largest second weekend.

Outside North America, it is the highest-grossing film of The Hunger Games series, the highest-grossing film released by Lionsgate and the seventh-highest-grossing 2013 film. On its first weekend, it was only released in Brazil (November 15, 2013), where it grossed $2.4 million on its opening day and $5.26 million for the weekend. On the following Wednesday and Thursday, it opened in 42 more territories, bringing its total to $32 million in a week. The film opened in 63 other territories and earned $138.4 million during the weekend ($146.6 million including its first week in Brazil). Its three largest openings occurred in the UK, Ireland and Malta ($19.8 million), China ($13.0 million) and Germany ($12.9 million). In total earnings, its largest countries are the UK, Ireland and Malta ($55.5 million), Germany ($43.4 million) and Australia ($34.3 million).

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 293 reviews, with a rating average of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Smart, smoothly directed, and enriched with a deeper exploration of the franchise's thought-provoking themes, Catching Fire proves a thoroughly compelling second installment in the Hunger Games series." It was the highest rated science fiction/fantasy movie of the year on the website. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to polls conducted during the opening weekend by CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average rating of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

The Hollywood Reporter said that the film has received "generally positive reviews" and CNN reported that reviews were "overwhelmingly positive" but noted that "an overarching complaint" was that it "runs needlessly long ... and the screenplay and direction do occasionally fall short." Entertainment Weekly said the consensus was that the sequel is "a more-confident, more-polished movie that delves deeper into Panem's political conflict". It also reported, "Critics are impressed that [Lawrence] commits to Katniss just as much as she would a complex David O. Russell character."

Writing for The Village Voice, Stephanie Zacharek praised Jennifer Lawrence's performance, writing that the actress is "both on fire and in the process of becoming, and it’s magnificent to watch." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 3.5 stars out of four and said, "Pop-culture escapism can be thrilling when dished out by experts. Katniss is a character worth a handful of sequels. And Lawrence lights up the screen. You'll follow her anywhere." He also commended supporting actors Sam Claflin and Jena Malone. Reviewing on Roger Ebert's website, Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today awarded the film three out of four stars, praising the acting of Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer and Jena Malone and referring to the challenges of the arena as "visually intriguing." Wloszczyna writes: "...the one truly fresh invention—and the one that matters most—is Katniss herself. With each on-screen chapter, the poor girl from District 12 continues to fulfill her destiny as an inspiration and a rebel fighter." Ian Nathan of Empire gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and noted that it was even better than the first film. He praised director Lawrence for "taking a more muscular approach" and "sensibly downplaying" the love triangle, noting that "neither [Peeta nor Gale], quite frankly, are fit to lay a pinky on [Katniss'] quiver". One fault he did find was in Philip Seymour Hoffman's "surprisingly ineffective performance".

A negative review came from Sophie Monks Kaufman of Little White Lies, who praised Lawrence's performance but criticized the "dilution of the ingredients that made The Hunger Games so gripping." She also found fault with the "lumbering" plot, the "hamminess" of President Snow and Plutarch Heavensbee and the "lackluster and unconvincing script culled from a dramatically difficult book". David Denby of The New Yorker argued that the premise "doesn't make a lot of sense". He praised the "impressive" first act and Jennifer Lawrence, for "project[ing] the kind of strength that Katharine Hepburn had when she was young." Denby found the second act "attenuated and rhythmless" and criticised the "incoherent" finale that "will send the audience scurrying back to the book to find out what’s supposed to be going on".

Accolades

In July 2012, Lionsgate announced that two films based on the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, were scheduled to be released. The first film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, was released on November 21, 2014, while the second film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, was released on November 20, 2015. Principal photography on the two-part film began on September 23, 2013, in Atlanta and concluded on June 20, 2014, in Berlin, Germany.