Variety is reporting Jennifer Lawrence is close to securing the lead role of Katniss Everdeen in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games, the first film in a trilogy based on Suzanne Collins’s bestselling novel of the same name. Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) is set to direct from a script by Billy Ray (Breach).
20-year-old Jennifer Lawrence was one of several actresses vying for the highly coveted role along with a pair of 14-year-olds in Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) and Abigail Breslin (Zombieland).
Age is playing a significant factor in the casting decision for several reasons. The Variety report says Lionsgate can more easily find a recognizable face in his 20s for the male lead, a role soon-to-be 21-year-old Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four) confirmed with Access Hollywood he has met with the producers to play.
The Hunger Games is already set for a March 23, 2012 release.
The story takes place in a dystopian society in which districts pay tribute in the form of a teenage boys and girls who are forced to fight to the death on live TV.
I have just started reading the first book in the trilogy and I can understand the decision to cast older actors in the lead roles if they plan on sticking to the more gritty nature of the story. I’m sure it will be easier to pass off 20-year-old actors in a gritty bloodbath rather than a pair of 14-year-olds. Of course, if they plan on watering it down then it doesn’t really matter.
Lawrence will next be seen in The Beaver opposite Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster, marking her first film since her Oscar-nominated performance in Winter’s Bone. She’ll follow that with X-Men: First Class on June 3. She also has the recent Sundance favorite Like Crazy coming soon.
