Earlier today some minor casting news related to Lionsgate’s adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games was announced. Well, in fairness, it’s minor in terms of the names as both Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg are relatively unknown actors, but the roles they play of Thresh and Rue are a pair of pivotal and emotionally charged characters in the story.
Thresh and Rue are the two “tributes” from District 11 in the story, which is set in a society in which districts pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl who are forced to fight to the death on live TV. At one time 13 different districts existed outside “The Capitol”, though the 13th was destroyed long ago. Previously cast Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth as Katniss, Peeta and Gale respectively are members of District 12 and are at the center of the story.
The image of Okeniyi and Stenberg above comes from the film’s Facebook page where they are obviously going to be announcing the district participants one at a time, a smart way to keep the film in the headlines and keep fans paying attention.
On top of this news, some more name worthy news popped up on the radar only a few seconds ago as Variety announced Elizabeth Banks will play Effie Trinket, the flaky bureaucrat who escorts her district’s young death-match contestants to their fate. It’s an interesting bit of casting for what I always viewed as one of the more annoying characters in the books, though Banks will be called upon for a few moments when her characters naïveté will be utilized as an emotional catalyst for the story, both good and bad.
Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) is directing the film from a Billy Ray script with production expected to begin later this year for an already planned March 23, 2012 release.
