The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The sequel to The Hunger Games (2012), it is the second installment in The Hunger Games film series. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland.

In the film, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the Games inspire uprisings in Panem.

Lionsgate announced a sequel film based on Collins’ second Hunger Games novel in 2012, with Gary Ross initially set to return as director; Ross was replaced with Lawrence that May, while deBruyn completed several rewrites to Beaufoy’s screenplay.

The main cast was confirmed by September 2012 and principal photography began later that month, lasting until March 2013. Filming locations included Georgia, Hawaii, and New Jersey.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on November 11, 2013, and was released in the United States on November 22, by Lionsgate. The film, often considered the best in the series, received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Lawrence’s performance, its themes, action sequences, musical score, screenplay, visual effects, and emotional depth.

It grossed $865 million, setting the then-records for biggest November opening weekend and the biggest Thanksgiving period box-office totals; it is the highest-grossing Lionsgate and The Hunger Games film, the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2013, and the highest-grossing film featuring a female lead since The Exorcist (1973).

Among its accolades, the film was nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Action Film and a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. For her performance, Lawrence was nominated for the Empire Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, and Saturn Award for Best Actress.

The soundtrack’s lead single, “Atlas” by Coldplay, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

The film was followed by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 in 2014.

Katniss was traumatized from the Games and remains emotionally distant from Peeta. President Snow visits Katniss and reveals that her defiance in the Games has inspired revolts across Panem. To suppress the rebellion, he demands that she and Peeta feign love during the Victory Tour, threatening to destroy District 12 and kill their families if they refuse.

During their Victory Tour, Katniss and Peeta’s speeches only lead to further unrest across the districts. The two publicly announce their engagement in an attempt to persuade Panem’s citizens of their love. However, President Snow remains unconvinced.

At the Capitol, Katniss meets the mysterious new head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee. Upon returning home, Katniss witnesses the brutality of the Capitol’s Peacekeepers. Gale is publicly whipped for trying to intervene in their beating of civilians, leading to a violent confrontation that results in Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch’s involvement.

The 75th Hunger Games, also known as the third Quarter Quell, is announced with a twist: tributes are to be selected from the existing pool of victors. As the only living female victor from District 12, Katniss is forced to compete, and at the Reaping, Effie draws Haymitch’s name, but Peeta immediately volunteers in his place.

In a last attempt to halt the Games, Peeta announces during his pre-Games interview that he and Katniss had already married and are expecting a child, leading to a further outcry by Capitol’s citizens. As ordered by Snow, Katniss wears a wedding dress for her interview, but Cinna, her stylist, designs it to shift into a mockingjay symbol.

Just before Katniss enters the arena, Cinna is brutally beaten in front of her and later killed for altering the dress.

In the Games, Katniss and Peeta form an alliance with Finnick Odair and the elderly Mags from District 4. They encounter a deadly poisonous fog at night; and when Peeta is hurt, Mags sacrifices herself so the others can escape.

The group also fights a pack of genetically mutated mandrills, during which the female tribute from District 6 sacrifices herself to save Peeta.

Fleeing to the beach, the group unites with Beetee and Wiress from District 3, and Johanna Mason, the female tribute from District 7.

Wiress discovers that the arena is designed like a clock, with dangers recurring at set intervals. The group is suddenly ambushed by the Careers. Katniss and Johanna kill Gloss and Cashmere, but Wiress is killed in the encounter.

Beetee proposes a plan to lure the remaining Careers to the wet beach and electrocute them using the lightning strikes recurring every 12 hours. The group splits to prepare the trap, laying a wire from a tree to the shoreline.

When District 2 tributes Brutus and Enobaria appear, Johanna incapacitates Katniss, cutting the tracker out of her arm before fleeing. Katniss finds an unconscious Beetee, apparently electrocuted by contact with the arena’s force field.

Unable to find Peeta and hearing a cannon, Katniss nearly attacks Finnick, suspecting his betrayal, but he reminds her to “remember who the real enemy is.” Katniss attaches the wire to an arrow, firing it into the arena’s roof just as lightning strikes.

The electricity travels along the wire, destroying the arena’s force fields, and causing its computer systems to fail. Katniss is knocked unconscious by the lightning strike and is picked up by a hovercraft.

Katniss awakes in the hovercraft and finds Haymitch, Finnick, a still-unconscious Beetee, and Heavensbee, who is revealed to be a rebel against Snow. Haymitch tells her they are bound for District 13, headquarters of the new rebellion.

He reveals that half of the tributes were in on the plan to rescue her; however, Peeta and Johanna were captured by the Capitol. Enraged, Katniss attacks Haymitch for violating his promise to save Peeta before she is sedated.

She awakens in District 13 with Gale. He reassures her that her family is safe, but that District 12 has been destroyed by the Capitol.