We’ve seen some intriguing teaser trailers for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” so far. One of them features a brainwashed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Johanna (Jena Malone) in a piece of “unified” propaganda from President Snow (Donald Sutherland) that gets hacked by members of the rebellion, namely Beetee (Jeffrey Wright). This is the type of insurgency that Snow will be looking to quell with swift vengeance and does really set the stage for ‘MockingJay – Part 1.’ The rebellion is making plans.
So the new ‘Hunger Games’ trailer has arrived and it’s intriguing, but more focused on world-building than outright thrilling. It appears that Lionsgate wants to slowly build the campaign rather than run out of the gate all guns blazing. In fact, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is barely seen in the trailer, only in glimpses, really. Instead, the trailer begins and focuses on Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Plutarch (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman), and Beetee (Wright) conspiring with rebellion leader Alma Coin (Julianne Moore). Is Katniss the new black? Can she rise as a figure of revolution or is she too damaged and compromised from everything she’s been through so far, including the capture of Peeta and her friends?
This is what seems will be the central conflict of ‘Mockingjay – Part 1’: an insurrection starting to build, a government trying to shut it down before it can truly spread and people on both sides wondering whether Katniss is truly the chosen one or not. “Are you here to fight with us?" a dirty faced rebel asks. "I am," answers Katniss in the trailer’s only money shot of our hero. "I will."
It’s nearly bold and almost counterintuitive as a teaser, but it’s also just a minute long. Regardless, it’s compelling and ‘Catching Fire‘ definitely showed this series as a franchise on the rise that had markedly improved.
Francis Lawrence is back to direct the two final films in the series. ‘Mockingjay – Part 1’ hits theaters this year on November 21st, while the final installment, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” comes out November 20, 2015. In the meantime, Lionsgate has a few months to build their campaign. Watch the teaser below, check out a new Comic-Con poster as well and some recently revealed motion and character portraits. Update: a new photos has arrived.
