Teaser Trailer
Teaser · The Hunger Games · 28 July 2014
The film
Film 3 of 6 · Original quadrilogy Australia first
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
“Fire burns brighter in the darkness.”
- Australian release
- 20 November 2014
- US release
- 21 November 2014
- Classification (AU)
- M
- Runtime
- 123 min
- Director
- Francis Lawrence
- AU distributor
- Roadshow Films
§ 01
Pulled from the wreckage of the Quarter Quell and installed in the fluorescent bunkers of District 13, Katniss Everdeen is handed a role she never auditioned for: the face of a revolution. President Coin and Plutarch Heavensbee want propaganda; Katniss wants Peeta back from the Capitol, where Snow is using him as a broadcast weapon against her. The result is the franchise at its least conventional — a war film about messaging rather than combat, where the decisive weapons are a camera crew, a slogan and a song. It ends mid-breath, by design.
§ 02
Mockingjay news The Australian angle
On the ground here
- The highest-grossing film in Australia for the whole of 2014 — A$32.78 million, ahead of The Lego Movie in second place. Roadshow held both the number one and number two films of the Australian year.
- Opened here on Thursday 20 November 2014, a day ahead of the United States, taking A$10.31 million from 574 screens over the opening frame.
- Held the Australian number one position for three consecutive weeks before Horrible Bosses 2 displaced it.
- 'The Hanging Tree', performed by Jennifer Lawrence, debuted at number 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart and peaked at number 5, earning an ARIA Gold certification.
- Liam Hemsworth finally moves from the margins to the centre of the plot — the Melbourne-born actor's biggest role of the series.
- Canberra-born Stef Dawson takes on Annie Cresta as a speaking role for the first time. The Hollywood Reporter announced her casting in August 2013 under the headline 'Australian Actress Stef Dawson Joins The Hunger Games: Mockingjay'.
§ 03
Who's in it
Cast
20 principal roles · 2 Australian, marked
Katniss Everdeen
Jennifer Lawrence
Performs 'The Hanging Tree' a cappella, recorded live on set
Peeta Mellark
Josh Hutcherson
Held in the Capitol; appears largely via propaganda broadcasts
Gale Hawthorne
Liam Hemsworth
Australian — his largest role of the series to date
Haymitch Abernathy
Woody Harrelson
Effie Trinket
Elizabeth Banks
District 13 appearances expanded for the film beyond the novel
President Alma Coin
Julianne Moore
Series debut
Plutarch Heavensbee
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Died during the back-to-back shoot; the film carries a dedication to him
Beetee Latier
Jeffrey Wright
Caesar Flickerman
Stanley Tucci
President Coriolanus Snow
Donald Sutherland
Finnick Odair
Sam Claflin
Johanna Mason
Jena Malone
Annie Cresta
Stef Dawson
Australian — born in Canberra; cast August 2013
Boggs
Mahershala Ali
Series debut
Cressida
Natalie Dormer
Series debut; propaganda film-maker
Messalla
Evan Ross
Series debut
Castor
Wes Chatham
Series debut
Pollux
Elden Henson
Series debut
Commander Paylor
Patina Miller
Series debut
Primrose Everdeen
Willow Shields
§ 04
Behind it
Crew and credits
- Directed by
- Francis Lawrence
- Screenplay
- Peter Craig, Danny Strong, Suzanne Collins (adaptation)
- Based on
- Mockingjay (2010) by Suzanne Collins
- Music
- James Newton Howard
- Cinematography
- Jo Willems
- Editing
- Alan Edward Bell, Mark Yoshikawa
- Production design
- Philip Messina
- Costume design
- Kurt and Bart
- Produced by
- Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik
- Studio
- Lionsgate
- Australian distributor
- Roadshow Films
- Budget
- US$125 million
§ 05
How it performed
The numbers
- Australian box office
- A$32.78 million the highest-grossing film in Australia in 2014
- Worldwide
- US$758.8 million
- North America
- US$337.1 million
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 70%
- Metacritic
- 64/100
§ 06
The gallery
Official stills
20 images · Lionsgate / Roadshow Films
Lionsgate / Roadshow Films
§ 07
Watch
Official videos
9 uploads, each verified against its official channel
§ 08
How it was made
Production notes
- Lionsgate announced on 10 July 2012 that Mockingjay would be split into two films, with Francis Lawrence confirmed to direct both, shot back-to-back.
- Francis Lawrence has since disowned the decision, telling People in October 2023: 'I totally regret it. I totally do.' He declined to split The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes for the same reason.
- Philip Seymour Hoffman died on 2 February 2014, mid-way through the back-to-back shoot. Lionsgate declined to recast, instead rewriting his two remaining scenes. Part 1 carries a dedication to his memory before the closing credits.
- 'The Hanging Tree' was recorded live on set a cappella in front of roughly 150 crew. Jennifer Lawrence resisted singing it and asked to lip-sync to another vocalist; the director refused and arranged vocal coaching instead. It reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 — her first chart entry — and number 1 in Germany, Austria and Hungary.
- Lorde was announced on 31 July 2014 as sole curator of the soundtrack, contributing lead single 'Yellow Flicker Beat'.
- Principal photography ran from 23 September 2013 in Atlanta to 20 June 2014 in Berlin, pausing so the cast could promote Catching Fire. Locations included Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Paris and Berlin — among them Noisy-le-Grand, the brutalist Parisian estate Terry Gilliam used for Brazil.
- The campaign leaned on in-world propaganda rather than conventional trailers, relaunching TheCapitol.PN and releasing two 'President Snow's Address' videos before the teaser.
- The film's three-finger salute was adopted as a real-world protest gesture, with some Thai screenings reportedly cancelled in November 2014 after demonstrators used it against the military government.
§ 09
The record
Key dates
-
Lionsgate announces Mockingjay will be adapted as two films.
-
Principal photography begins in Atlanta, shooting Parts 1 and 2 back-to-back.
-
Philip Seymour Hoffman dies with the Mockingjay shoot still in progress.
-
Principal photography wraps in Berlin.
-
Teaser trailer released online.
-
Lorde announced as sole curator of the soundtrack.
-
Full worldwide trailer released.
-
World premiere, Odeon Leicester Square, London.
-
Australian cinema release via Roadshow Films.
-
'The Hanging Tree' debuts at number 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
Sources
- Box Office Mojo
- Australian Classification Board
- Screen Daily — Australia box office 2014
- The Hollywood Reporter — The Hanging Tree
- Wikipedia
Stills and key art © Lionsgate / Roadshow Films, reproduced editorially with credit. Image data sourced via TMDB; THGAustralia uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Spotted an error? Tell us.
