Post by The Upson Post.
If you haven't read The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, these shots from the set of the movie version probably don't make much sense to you-- how does an old mill fit into this futuristic world in which kids fight each other in an arena? Fans of the book aren't exactly going to look at that building and immediately know where it fits in, but it's not hard to guess that, at some point in the battle for the future of Panem, Katniss Everdeen and other freedom fighters wind up paying a visit to this dilapidated spot.
Post by The Upson Post.
The photo above and many more were posted to Facebook by The Upson Post, the local paper for Thomaston, Georgia, a small town located about an hour south of Atlanta. Like Catching Fire, Mockingjay-- which will be released as two films-- is filming near Atlanta, one of many far-flung locations that has tossed tax breaks at Hollywood in an effort to get some of that movie cash. The new roles in Mockingjay are fairly limited, but Julianne Moore is attached for the biggest one as rebel leader President Coin, Australian newcomer Stef Dawson will play Finnick's love interest Annie, and Super Fun Night star Rebel Wilson suggested at one point that she could play a role, though there's been no confirmation about that just yet.
In Mockingjay, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) finds herself at the center of a full-blown war against the Capitol, the government that has ruled Panem her entire life with vicious tactics like The Hunger Games. Still caught in that love triangle between Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss is both a symbol of the resistance-- the famous "Mockingjay"-- as well as a fighter herself. Mockingjay is the bloodiest and also the weakest of the three books by Suzanne Collins, but the chance to show the warfare on the big screen could allow the Mockingjay movies to actually improve on the books. The big question, though, is how the split will affect the story-- all the big stuff happens in the second half, which could make Mockingjay: Part 1 a Breaking Dawn-style slog.
The first half of Mockingjay comes to theaters on November 21, 2014 with the second half arriving almost exactly a year later. If you spot them filming anywhere else in the Atlanta area, let us know.
