Will Phillip Seymour Hoffman be Catching Fire?

With the exception of Donald Sutherland and Lenny Kravitz, none of the main stars of the record breaking Hunger Games were what you might call household names. Star Jennifer Lawrence had been pretty unrecognizable under layers of make-up in X-Men: First Class, and her previous on-screen efforts, while critically praised was much smaller indie affairs.

But Lionsgate is certainly not keeping the cast low key any more, if the latest reports are to be believed, as it’s been rumoured that the role of Plutarch Heavensbee has now been offered to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

At this point, there’s been no word as to whether or not Hoffman would be interested in the role, but it’s not as if the acclaimed actor is above blockbuster genre films, having taken the role of villain in Mission: Impossible III a few years ago.

As to who the character of Plutarch Heavensbee actually is… Well, this is the point where I tell everybody who hasn’t read the books, and doesn’t want to see any SPOILERS  for the sequel, to kindly go find something else to do.

Catching Fire picks up shortly after Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark’s (Josh Hutcherson) near-suicidal attempt at sabotage at the end of the last Hunger Games. Their actions forced the Capitol’s hand into breaking their own rules and declaring two winners. This show of resistance has incited the various Districts of Panem to a state of near revolution against the Capitol.

As a deterrent to the expected uprisings, President Snow declares a special 75th anniversary version of the Games, the Third Quarter Quell, in which past winners of the event, including Katniss and Peeta, are called back into the arena to battle each other to the death. Running these new Games, and the role which Hoffman would be up for, is Plutarch Heavensbee. He replaces Seneca Crane who has since come down with a mild case of death by poisoning for allowing the Katniss/Peeta fiasco to occur.

So essentially, he’s the new guy that will be making Katniss’ life hell. In the book, his role, while important, is not given that much screen time, however I have a feeling that that may change, just as Gary Ross did with Seneca Crane in the first film.

Last Updated: June 12, 2012