It's official: Philip Seymour Hoffman, 44, will play the role of head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Lionsgate announced July 9.
The Oscar-winning actor, who was recently nominated for a Tony Award for his role in Broadway's Death of a Salesman, will share the screen with returning stars Jennifer Lawrence, 21, Josh Hutcherson, 19, Liam Hemsworth, 22, Elizabeth Banks, 38, and Woody Harrelson, 50. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — based on the second novel in the bestselling trilogy by Suzanne Collins — is being directed by Francis Lawrence and produced by Nina Jacobson.
Heavensbee is the new gamemaker of the deathly Hunger Games TV series, a position previously occupied by Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley, 33). Principal photography on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is expected to begin this fall.
Other central characters who have yet to be cast in the film include tributes Johanna Mason and Finnick Odair; Jenna Malone and Garrett Hedlund are both reportedly frontrunners for the roles.
Since its March 23, 2012 release, The Hunger Games has grossed nearly $650 million worldwide.
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