Does a movie really need critical/box office success to necessitate a sequel any more? If the past year has been any indication, the answer is no. In the past few months studios have set release dates and started working on scripts for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Green Lantern 2, Thor 2 and Captain America 2 months before their respective "part 1's" were released. Some projects, however, are almost guaranteed to take off, which is why Lionsgate has announced the release date for the sequel to The Hunger Games.
The studio has sent out a press release announcing that Catching Fire, the second movie in the Hunger Games franchise, will be released on November 22, 2013. Though the project doesn't have any competition on the date currently, it's an interesting move, as the first movie, which is currently in production, is scheduled to be released on March 23rd next year. By doing this, the studio is allowing the sequel to have a much longer production time, a luxury that the first film doesn't have. The release says that no other details about the project have been confirmed yet, such as who will be directing (will Gary Ross return?) or who will be adapting.
In other release date news, Disney has announced weekend openings for three future projects, but unlike The Hunger Games, we have absolutely no idea what they are. According to Box Office Mojo, there will be two untitled Marvel releases coming out in 2014 (one on May 16th, the other on June 27th) and also an untitled Pixar release (dated for May 30th). There has been rampant speculation about all three projects and it's unknown if they will be sequels (The Avengers 2? The Incredibles 2?) or new projects (Ant-Man? Black Panther? Dr. Strange?).
It's an interesting puzzle that I will now toss to you, our awesome readers. What do you think/hope is coming up next on Disney's slate?
