Lionsgate exec teases ‘Hunger Games’ prequels, fresh horrors in store

The last installment of the “Hunger Games” dominated the box office in the United States of America and Canada for a 3rd straight week, with Christmas horror flick “Krampus” within the quantity two spot. This opens up a possibly of prequels for the franchise.

Michael Burns, vice chairman of Lionsgate, dropped a possible hint of more episodes in the studio’s franchise at a conference with investors Tuesday, Deadline.com reports. A Hunger Games prequel would go back to the arenas exemplified in the first two movies. Of course, Lionsgate’s been promising new “Twilight” movies since “Breaking Dawn: Part 2” hit theaters back in 2012 – and although the “Twilight Storytellers” mini-movies project was a resounding success that shone a spotlight on some wonderful up-and-coming female filmmakers, we have yet to see a feature-length “Twilight” film get greenlit.

The Hunger Games released in 2012 made a global star of actress Jennifer Lawrence who won the role of Katniss Everdeen. Why would anyone be interested in seeing movies that just feature more kids killing each other in different arenas, serving no real narrative objective except to spell out a backstory that everyone already knows? Is there really interest in the story of Katniss before she entered the Hunger Games? “If we went backwards, there obviously would be arenas.” Huh.

The arena featured in The Hunger Games is where teens – or “tributes” from 12 districts – fight to the death in an annual contest that takes place in post-apocalyptic America. Gary Ross directed the first film, while Francis Lawrence directed the next three films.