This one is for the “Hunger Games” die hards because this writer hasn’t read the books, nor does he intend to, so everyone else will have to sound off if this is good casting or not.
Newcomers Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg have been cast as Thresh and Rue in the upcoming franchise starter directed by Gary Ross. They will join Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth in the film based on the Suzanne Collins books that involve teens drawn by lottery into gladiatorial battles in a dystopian future. So, sort of like a tween “The Running Man” or as the author’s website disturbingly calls it: “Gladiator” meets “Project Runway.”
Okeniyi and Stenberg will play Thresh and Rue, two allies from District 10. Rue teams with Katniss (Lawrence) and they form a close bond, with Thresh won over by Katniss’ closeness with his fellow district Tribute. Still ten more District teams to be named and we’d imagine they’ll be coming fast and furious. “Hunger Games” begin on March 23, 2012. [Facebook]
Hunger Games is basically Battle Royale. I can see why the book is so popular with young readers, but as dystopian science fiction, it\’s a big fail, as its future is never fully believable and the author goes for cheap emotional manipulation and exploitation — Rue\’s character exists solely for that — rather than examining her themes with any real depth. It\’ll probably make a good movie, as no one expects action movies to be anything other than shallow escapism anyway.