With the success of the Hunger Games movies it is no wonder that Lionsgate would want to do more films, but the problem is that according to Variety they are going to make movies that no one wants to see. They want to make prequels featuring arenas, so they can have more of the titular ‘Hunger Games’. The issue is that for 73 years those games just featured kids killing each other, and then if they did win they were used and tormented by the capital. Not great. I mean they would be making the American version of Battle Royal, which could be interesting, but that is not a wide audience pleaser. The only way around that would be to make movies featuring victors we have met like Finnick or Haymitch, so that way we would know that they eventually end up leading the resistance, but that movie is even worse because we know that they will win their contest, and we already know how their lives turn out.
Meanwhile the people behind Harry Potter have released this:
A prequel that I am excited about. Why? It has almost nothing to do with Harry Potter. They only thing we know for sure is that Newt Scamander is good at finding Fantastic Beasts and writing about them. All he has to do for continuity sake is write a book, and if they don’t want to be shackled down by that, they can say that he already wrote it. It is prefect: we get to go back to the Harry Potter universe we know and love, and we get to see something totally new. No Dark Lord and no Boy Who Lived. They haven’t even been born yet! Well maybe Voldemort is around, but he would still be going by Tom Riddle, and he would be an ocean away.
What I am saying is, if you are going to do a prequel, you have to still give the audience a new story, and one they can feel good about. Not random kids murdering each other. I hope for fans of the Hunger Games series that Lionsgate figures that out before making their new movie. Until then I will be eagerly awaiting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!