Top 10: Reasons to See The Hunger Games
Wes Bentley's beard; $30,000 wigs; Elizabeth Banks, et al.
The Hunger Games is out in cinemas tomorrow and we are pretty damn excited. To celebrate, here are ten facts you might not know about the movie / reasons why you should go and see the movie (as if you haven't already got plans to do so).
1. It cost $30,000 to figure out exactly what shade of brown to dye Jennifer Lawrence's hair, as the film's hair designers had to experiment on really expensive wigs made out of lace, because she refused to let them experiment on her real hair. What a diva. (But also, we totally get it).
2. Elizabeth Banks is the best. Please refer to Exhibit A (she is the one who isn't Jennifer Lawrence):
She plays Effie Trinket, escort to the District 12 Tributes (one of whom is Katniss Everdeen, played by Oscar Nominee Jennifer Lawrence). "[Elizabeth] is so much fun to work with," costume designer Judianna Makovsky told The Cut. "She tells people that she was my Barbie doll. But she has a lot of good ideas, she knows how things should fit, and she wanted all her clothes to be very constricting, she has that funny walk [in the movie] because she can't walk any other way. Her shoes are so outrageously high and uncomfortable, and she wanted that. I'm like, "Are you sure you can do the scene?" And she's like, "Yes, I'll do it. I'll take them off in between shots. It'll be fine." She was miserable, but she did it because she felt it was right. In the book, the fashions are so outrageous in the Capitol that they aren't meant to be actually worn. And that was the point: poking fun at fashion, and how outrageous trends can be."
You may have previously loved Elizabeth Banks in film such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Spiderman and Wet Hot American Summer (in which she makes out a lot with Paul Rudd).
3. The guy from American Beauty is in it and has an extraordinary beard.
4. Children die in this movie. Not the actors playing them, the characters. But still. Children.
5. The Capitol (the capital city of Panem, the film's future version of North America) is totes into the internets. It's on Facebook, Twitter, but its most fun internet place is its Tumblr, Capitol Couture, which is dedicated to the fashion of The Hunger Games.
6. Rodarte designed a hat for the film. It's pretty awesome.
7. LENNY KRAVITZ IS IN THIS MOVIE. He plays a stylist, natch. This is his second major film role, after his debut in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. He recently told Ellen that his hotel room became the "after hours" venue for the cast and that Woody Harrelson would show up nightly (with "medication") and play dress ups. Best job ever.
8. The film broke the US box office record for most advanced tickets sold for opening day. The record was originally held by Twilight: Eclipse.
9. There were more than 35 make-up artists working full time during the shoot.
10. Suzanne Collins, the genius woman who wrote the books on which the film is based, also co-wrote the script and co-produced the film, so you know that Hollywood idiots haven't butchered her original masterpiece (JK we love Hollywood idiots!).
Cannot wait.
Emily Royal
