Following the trend of unnecessarily splitting book adaptations into multiple movies, Deadline is reporting that Lionsgate will be turning the final novel of the Hunger Games trilogy into two films. Titled Mockingjay, this final novel revolves around Katniss' struggle to lead her people in rebellion against the Capitol, and if done right, it could very well wind up being the most intense installment of the whole saga.
Clocking in at just 400 pages, it doesn't seem like the novel is quite long enough to warrant the split, though. But with a franchise that only has a finite amount of installments in it, Lionsgate is just looking for any way to keep bringing in the money. This is the same strategy used on the final book adaptation in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
These last two Harry Potter films made over $2 billion dollars at the worldwide box office combined, even though each movie only adapted half a book. By making people pay to see two movies that basically told one half of a story each, Warner Bros. doubled its profits and delayed the end of the franchise by a year. It's a smart business move, and it looks like the folks at Lionsgate realized that.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will be released on November 21, 2014 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 will hit theaters on November 20, 2015.
[via Deadline]
