Elizabeth Banks Looking To Join The Hunger Games

Add one more to the cast of The Hunger Games. Variety tells us that Elizabeth Banks is in talks to join the cast as Effie Trinket, who acts as “Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta’s (Josh Hutcherson) escort from their home in district 12 to the games in the Capital.” The film is set to hit theatres in just under a year (March 23, 2012) so you can expect the casting on this one to be finalized very soon.

Along with Banks, Dayo Okeniyi and Amanda Stenberg also joined the film today and will act as participants in the games. I haven’t read the books but /Film tells us that there is only one major role left to cast, judging by the novels. The role is that of Haymitch, a former winner of the games who plays a huge role in the books.

The more I hear about this project, the more I feel like I should read the books. The premise sounds really intriguing and they’re supposed to be fantastic. They take place “in a dystopic world, where teenagers are forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death televised event.” Apparently Lionsgate is hoping to turn this into a ‘Twilight’ type franchise, which seems like a real possibility. The cast is coming together nicely and all things considered, this one could turn out to be a bonafide hit. Looking forward to seeing a trailer.