Now that Hunger Games shattered tons of records, making it the biggest film in the past few years, other studios are doing what they can to compensate for the massive train which will be the production of the rest of the Hunger Games trilogy.
The first in that line is Fox, as they’re moving the start time for production on Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class’s sequel. From THR:
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Fox is informing talent agencies Thursday that the studio plans to begin shooting its in-development sequel to X-Men: First Class in January. That means Lionsgate could move forward with an August-September start date for the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire without a conflict for Lawrence, who is set to star in both.
As THR previously reported, tensions between the studios were running high last month as Fox was considering filming the Matthew Vaughn-directed X-Men follow-up in the fall, potentially conflicting with Lionsgate’s plans for Hunger Games. Fox, which cast Lawrence as the shape-shifting character Mystique in Summer 2010, months before Lionsgate chose her to play Katniss Everdeen in March 2011, has the right to exercise the option on her contract if it conflicts with another Hunger.
Fox’s acquiescence isn’t a total win for Liosngate. One source says the Hunger Games studio would have liked to “hold” all the actors for seven months in connection with shootingCatching Fire. But that lengthy demand (typical holds are months shorter) is said to have been dropped amid complaints by interested parties, including Fox.
Let’s see what this means for the film’s script and release schedule, but an abbreviated principal photography schedule isn’t new for Vaughn and his crew, as they had the same situation for the original film.
