Lionsgate Splitting Marketing Groups; Tim Palen and Nancy Kirkpatrick to Stay | THR

Fear not, Hunger Games fans! When the Summit/Lionsgate merger was announced, we wondered who would be heading Lionsgate's marketing. Since The Hunger Games had a very successful and innovative marketing campaign, we were hoping they'd keep Tim Palen so that we can expect more awesome marketing for the future Hunger Games movies. Looks like they've reached a compromise!

Lionsgate marketing head Tim Palen and Summit marketing chief Nancy Kirkpatrick are both staying with the company, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. 

The Hunger Games studio has closed a new long-term deal with Palen, who will now run marketing for the Lionsgate-branded film slate. Kirkpatrick will head up marketing for Summit-branded films, including the final installment of the Twilight franchise, set for release in late November.

There had been widespread speculation in Hollywood that one of the marketing execs would depart Lionsgate in the wake of the company's merger with Summit this year. As part of that deal, Summit'sRob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger took control of the film studio, potentially giving Summit's Kirkpatrick the inside track. But Palen is considered a talented marketing executive, responsible for the campaign for Lionsgate's current blockbuster Hunger Games. The studio now has worked out a compromise that seems to have satisfied both executives in the short term while planting the seeds of a long-term plan. 

Combining the two studios has resulted in a large number of films on the upcoming release slate, so splitting the duties and allowing each executive to run his and her own slate makes sense. However, once the merged Lionsgate trims its film slate to about 14 films a year, as it has said it plans to do, two marketing heads probably won't make sense. 

At that point, locking Palen into a long-term deal probably gives him the pole position to remain with the company.

UPDATE: Lionsgate is confirming the news with a press release announcing Palin's new long-term deal. 

"Tim is a gifted marketing executive who has been a driving force in the success of our motion picture business over the years, and he elevated his game to a new level with a groundbreaking marketing campaign for The Hunger Games," said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer and vice chairman Michael Burns in a statement. "His marketing campaigns integrate digital and traditional resources in innovative and cost-effective ways that reflect Lionsgate's entrepreneurial culture at its best." 

"One of the great benefits of Summit’s recent merger with Lionsgate is the opportunity to be in business with a marketing executive as talented as Tim,” said Friedman and Wachsberger said in a statement. “As we roll out a combined slate capable of generating more than a billion dollars at the North American box office, we are fortunate to have two extremely talented marketing executives to guide both the Lionsgate and Summit brands going forward.”

We're glad that Tim Palen's work on The Hunger Games hasn't gone unnoticed. We love the marketing done for The Hunger Games and we can't wait to see what's in store for Catching Fire and Mockingjay!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Interview with Hunger Games Soundtrack Producer Greg Wells

PopMatters sat down with Greg Wells to talk about what it was like producing the companion soundtrack to The Hunger Games, Songs From District 12 and Beyond. He goes into the process of creating the Kid Cudi song on the soundtrack, "The Ruler and the Killer".

“Then Cudi would leave the room for about five or ten minutes and come back in and say ‘I think I got verse one! Let me just hold the mic and I’ll do it right here in the control room.’ So he did it right in front of us. One take. Everything was one take. He never re-did anything. And I thought he would, but he’d just say ‘OK, that was it.’ Like Frank Sinatra never did overdubs, it was a bit like that! [laughs] And I loved it! I’m not used to working with people like that. You know, everyone wants to hone it a bit, and he was just like ‘This is what it is.’

“I played some bass on it, and T-Bone played this kind of very vibey little acoustic guitar pass, he did the same kind of beat, he just jammed on acoustic guitar over this track. And pretty much everything he played in the first take was just this great little, fantastically weird little notes. They’re quite featured in the final mix I did on the track. And then I did a mix of that, we listened to it and lived with it. Cudi came in to tune up the guitars a bit ... and we had it. It was quick.

“I love how kind of quirky the thing is, and none of us knew we were gonna write a song that sounded anything like that! It’s a weird little menacing song. And Cudi just really tried to dial in the Donald Sutherland character in the movie. It’s very oppressive and messed up—evil. That’s the perspective of the singer in that song, and I like how creepy we got it.”

His success with the song was interesting, considering that he didn’t have any prior experience withThe Hunger Games. “I usually have a couple of projects going on at the same time, and between that and having three kids, I’m just so busy I don’t take in a lot of new stuff that doesn’t get put right in front of me,” Wells says. “So, I was somehow unaware of the massive phenomenon that is that book series. But I got played a very long trailer that I don’t think was ever released, a ten-minute trailer that was put together and really gave me a huge feel for what the movie is, and the arc of the whole story—and I was so sucked in. It was an incredible little vignette from that movie, and I was pretty much just like, ‘OK, I’m in! This is amazing. There’s nothing like it.’”

The soundtrack itself stands as one of the great film soundtracks of recent years. It, like Burnett’s soundtrack for the Coen Brothers’ film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and every soundtrack for every Quentin Tarantino film ever created, is a narrative in its own right, allowing the listener to know and live in the world of the film long after the screen goes dark. The album boasts talent like Taylor Swift and Kid Cudi, as well as The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, and Neko Case, among others, creating a rich tapestry true to the dystopian, Appalachian core of both the film and the books.

Check out the entire article here.

New TV Spot: Movie Sensation

Check out the latest TV Spot, advertising the return of The Hunger Games to IMAX theaters:

We're still running our contest to win 2 tickets to see The Hunger Games in IMAX. Just RT this tweet and make sure you're following our Twitter!

THG Returns to IMAX Theatres April 27!

Check out the press release!!

THE HUNGER GAMES RETURNS TO SELECT IMAX® THEATRES FOR A ONE WEEK ENGAGEMENT

Limited One-Week Engagement Begins April 27

Los Angeles, CA – April 20, 2012 – IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX; TSX:IMX) and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) today announced that due to overwhelming demand, The Hunger Games will return to more than 100 IMAX® digital theatres across North America on April 27. The film will play for a one-week special return engagement through May 3. 

The Hunger Games has grossed over $533 million globally since its launch on March 23, including $13.2 million generated from IMAX theatres in its original one week run.

“It’s wonderful that so many fans have expressed interest in seeing The Hunger Games in the immersive IMAX format, and many of these are repeat viewers,” said Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group Co-Chair Rob Friedman, adding “ We're delighted that IMAX has been able to accommodate them through this special one week re-engagement.”

“The Hunger Games has become a cultural phenomenon and we are thrilled to provide moviegoers with another opportunity to see this year’s most successful film in IMAX,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. 

The IMAX release of The Hunger Games has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.IMAX.com. 

You can also enter to win tickets to an IMAX showing! Follow our Twitter and retweet this:

Woohoo #HungerGamesIMAX! Follow @wtod12 and RT this to enter to win 2 Hunger Games IMAX tickets! May the odds be ever in your favor!

Sources Say...It's Francis Lawrence!

Could it be? THR is reporting that Lawrence got the offer today, and if he accepts will direct "Catching Fire".  But of course, nothing is official!

Sources say Lawrence will receive an official offer Thursday afternoon. If he accepts and a deal can be worked out, he will replace Gary Ross, who directed the hugely successful first installment of the franchise.
The hunt has been fast and furious, with the field narrowing down to Lawrence, director of I Am Legend and Water for Elephants, and Bennett Miller, who helmed the Oscar-nominated Brad Pitt baseball movie Moneyball. Both directors met with the studio Thursday, according to sources, and Lionsgate executives have made their pick.

Read the full THR article


If this is true, we're very excited to see what Francis Lawrence will do with Catching Fire, and we are even more glad that he has experience when it comes to big special effects and big budgets.

Rumor: Catching Fire Director will be either Lawrence or Miller

Rumor is, as reported by LA Times' 24 Frames, that the Catching Fire director job will go to either Miller or Lawrence and we'll find out by the end of the week.

The hunt for the new director on "Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire" is reaching its conclusion, with Lionsgate expected to offer the job to either Francis Lawrence ("Water for Elephants"; "I Am Legend") or Bennett Miller ("Moneyball"; "Capote") by the end of the week, according to knowledgeable sources not authorized to speak publicly. 

The studio has narrowed in on the two directors after considering a broader group that also included Tomas Alfredson ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"), Tony Scott ("Unstoppable"), and Stephen Daldry ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"). 

Lawrence (no relation to "Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence) may be the easier option because his schedule is open. One source said he has met with top executives at the studio and appears eager to take on the job. 

Miller, meanwhile, would have to delay his plans to direct the movie "Foxcatcher" about John du Pont, the heir to the famous family's fortune who shot and killed an Olympic gold-medal-winning wrestler. The film, which recently added Mark Ruffalo to a cast that already includes Steve Carell and Channing Tatum, is supposed to start filming late this year.
The Austrian-born Lawrence got his start helming music videos for Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Green Day. While last year's  "Water for Elephants" starring Reese Witherspoon did only modest business, he had great success with the 2007 "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. He's also quite proficient in special effects and knows his way around large film sets, two attributes crucial for directing the action-heavy "Catching Fire." 

Miller has never directed a big-budget movie with special effects but was widely praised for his work on  "Moneyball" and "Capote" and was nominated for an Oscar for the latter picture. 

With production set to begin in August, whoever takes the position that Gary Ross abandoned last week will be working furiously with screenwriter Simon Beaufoy ("Slumdog Millionaire") and producers Nina Jacobson and John Kilik to get the production ready in the next few months. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters in November 2013. 

Crushable: Drinking with Octavia

Super cool blog post by Anna Breslaw of Crushable in which she interviews Brooke Bundy, known as Octavia in The Hunger Games.

The two have known each other prior to The Hunger Games' fame, and they chat about funny stories, filming, and her very sensible ideas on handling The Hunger Games success. Here are some highlights:

A mutual friend of ours from college once asked us what skills would keep us alive in a dystopian world–a question, incidentally, unrelated to California native Brooke’s big break in the movie–and her first answer was “brute strength.” (Mine was “running fast.”) She does tend to stomp into places like a very pretty, large-faced in the best way, bull in a china shop. She rushed breathlessly up to me in the sports bar we were meeting as if she was late, which she was not, and gave me a huge hug. She had taken the subway from Red Hook, where she had just interviewed for a restaurant job.
“Those interviews are hard. It’s hard to be like–” She puts on crazy-solemn eyes. “Yes. I take this very seriously.’”

It seems incongruous that an actress in the top-grossing movie in the country for four weeks straight, someone who can make an informed personal judgment of Lenny Kravitz as a human being (verdict: “The coolest person of all the big famous people”) would be running around Brooklyn trying to get a waitressing gig. Less than a month ago, she was walking the red carpet at The Hunger Games’ Los Angeles premiere alongside a star-studded cast that included Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Kravitz, Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks. Last week The New York Daily News ran an article about Brooke that commented on this duality, with quotes from a Ditmas Park family whose kids she watches. The kids, understandably, are psyched: “Our babysitter is in The Hunger Games!”

“It’s weird. I mean, you aren’t immune from awareness about status, but you can’t let that get to you. Especially me, I mean, I have such minimal exposure. I’m not famous.”

She also found the vibe of working on a big-budget movie surprisingly familiar. “I expected it to feel more controlled. People think it’s a shiny adventure [to make movies], but it’s so messy. No matter how much money’s involved, it’s just people fighting to get things done in time, just like it is in little indie stuff.”

Read the full blog post HERE!