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    Film adaptation of new “Hunger Games” book is in the works

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1246 Views
    This cover image released by Scholastic shows "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," a Hunger Games novel by Suzanne Collins, to be published on May 19. Lionsgate is working on a film adaptation of the "Hunger Games" prequel. Collins' novels have sold tens of millions of copies and the film versions, which starred Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen, have earned nearly $3 billion. (Scholastic via AP)

    By Hillel Italie, National Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    The next "Hunger Games" book is coming out next month, and a movie version is now being planned. 

    Lionsgate is working on an adaptation of Suzanne Collins' "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," a prequel to her three "Hunger Games" novels that will be released May 19. Collins' Dystopian series, which includes "The Hunger Games," "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay," has sold tens of millions copies worldwide and is the basis for four Lionsgate movies that earned nearly $3 billion and starred Jennifer Lawrence as the heroine Katniss Everdeen. 

    For the new movie, Collins will serve as executive producer and write the film's treatment. The screenplay will be by Michael Arndt, an Oscar winner for "Little Miss Sunshine," a nominee for "Toy Story 3" and one of the writers for the adaptation of "Catching Fire." Francis Lawrence returns as director after making the three previous "Hunger Games" movies. Nina Jacobson will again produce, along with Brad Simpson. 

    A movie deal has long seemed inevitable. When Collins' book was announced last year, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chairman Joe Drake told the AP that the company had "been communicating with her during the writing process."

    But with movie productions halted by the coronavirus pandemic, no release date has been set and casting has not begun. The film will take place in Collins' fictional Panem, and center on 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, the future president, played in the earlier movies by Donald Sutherland.

    "Lionsgate has always been the cinematic home of 'The Hunger Games,' and I'm delighted to be returning to them with this new book," Collins said in a statement Tuesday. "From the beginning, they have treated the source material with great respect, honoring the thematic and narrative elements of the story, and assembling an incredible team both in front of and behind the camera. It's such a pleasure to be reuniting with Nina, Francis, and Michael to adapt the novel to the screen, and having them share their remarkable talents, once again, with the world of Panem."

    Drake said in a statement that Collins' new novel is "creatively thrilling and takes this world to complex new dimensions that open up amazing cinematic possibilities."

    "We're thrilled to reunite this filmmaking team with this very unique franchise, and we can't wait to begin production," Drake said. 

    Tags:Francis LawrenceHunger GamesLionsgate



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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