The marketing people at Lionsgate are no dummies. They clearly recognize that celebrity culture has been reduced to “What are you wearing” questions on the red carpet, and are ramping up their marketing efforts for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with the movie poster equivalent: seven character portrait images that depict Katniss & Compay in fancy freaky fashions before the next round of adolescent-on-adolescent bloodshed begins. Based on the images below, the film’s costume designer Trish Summerville should consider establishing a men’s line (as long as she doesn’t stray too far into Stanley Tucci /Caesar territory), but whoa, she’d get ripped a new one by Joan Rivers for her women’s wear. I’m guessing that Jennifer Lawrence /Katniss’ winged outfit is Mockingjay -inspired, and it certainly will be mocked. Thank God JLaw didn’t wear that number to the Oscars. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
It sure looks like Star Wars creator, George Lucas , dropped a bombshell in a fascinating Bloomberg Businessweek feature on how Disney acquired Lucasfilm late last year. When the article’s author, Devin Leonard, asked Lucas if the original Star Wars cast will appear in the J.J. Abrams -directed Episode VII , the Force Father replied: “We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison —or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ ” He pauses. “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them.” Then he adds: “I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.” George Lucas Backtracks On ‘Star Wars Episode 7’ Cast Spoiler I love that little Jedi Mind Trick that Lucas attempts at the end. You will not think that I have just thrown a giant hydrospanner into Disney’s Star Wars marketing efforts. It sure sounds like backpedaling to me, and when I contacted Leonard to ask him whether Lucas left with the impression that Hamill, Fisher and Harrison are indeed on board, he replied: “I took it as a confirmation.” That’s not the only revelation contained in the feature, which you can read here . Lucas also reveals that the negative Internet chatter over his Star Wars prequels got to him. “He found it difficult to be creative when people were calling him a jerk,” writes Leonard, who then quotes Lucas saying: “It was fine before the Internet….But now with the Internet, it’s gotten very vicious and very personal. You just say, ‘Why do I need to do this?’ ” Lesson learned: The Dark Side controls the Internet, but The Force lives on at the Magic Kingdom. And here’s hoping Harrison Ford finally gets that Han Solo death scene he wanted in Episode VI . More on Star Wars Episode VII: Harrison Ford Might Return As Han Solo − And Die Happy [ Bloomberg Businessweek ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
