THR reports that the much anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games has another cast member for the film.
Wes Bentley, best known for his acclaimed performance in American Beauty, has signed on to play the role of Seneca Crane in the upcoming post-apocalyptic film.
Bentley is without a doubt an actor of exceptional talent, and I think it’s a real shame that he’s not become more widely known after such a promising start to his career with American Beauty back in 1999. The Hunger Games is shaping up to have the potential to be a big success story, so I’m hoping some of that success will find its way to Bentley in the form of a career boost, putting him back on everyone’s radar.
If you can get your hands on a copy of it, I highly recommend giving Bentley’s performance in 2007’s Weirdsville a watch, because he, Scott Speedman (Underworld), and Taryn Manning (8 Mile) are all absolutely excellent in that film.
The Hunger Games will star Jennifer Lawrence as the lead, who won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress this year for Winter’s Bone (impressive at her twenty years of age), and will be back on our screens as Mystique in X-Men: First Class at the end of the month. Elizabeth Banks (The Next Three Days), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right), and Liam Hemsworth (Chris’ brother) are also signed on to star.
According to THR,
“Bentley will portray Seneca Crane, the head gamemaker of the 74th Hunger Games, in which Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are forced to compete against nearly two dozen other children/teens in a fight for survival.”
Gary Ross is attached to direct, and it will be his first directorial role since 2003’s Seabiscuit, which also starred Banks. I’ve not seen Seabiscuit, but I did love his work with Pleasantville a few years prior, so I am definitely looking forward to seeing what he does with The Hunger Games. Billy Ray (State of Play) has revised the script Collins originally adapted herself, so it certainly looks like it could be a big hit when it’s released on 23rd March next year.
The novel is the first part of a trilogy, and if the film is successful, we can likely expect another two films to follow to complete the story, which would of course be a great boost for Lawrence’s already stellar career as the central character. Naturally, we’ll be following the developments of this film every step of the way.
