It's been almost four years since The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins' young adult trilogy, came to the big screen, helping launch the massive careers of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth. Since then, each of The Hunger Games films have earned well over $600 million at the worldwide box office, and the fourth and final film in the series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 , is expected to do even better. With all the talk about the upcoming movie, fans can't help but hope that there might be another Hunger Games film in the works. So, is Mockingjay — Part 2 really the end? Or will there be more Hunger Games movies in our future?
Sadly, it's unlikely. Hollywood has already stretched out the original trilogy of books into four movies, splitting the last book into Mockingjay — Part 1 and Part 2 — and Collins has yet to expand the series on paper. Thus far, there doesn't seem to be any more Hunger Games movies on the horizon. For one thing, it's entirely likely that the actors have already negotiated contracts to limit their involvement to four films. (If Lawrence can get her contract with X-Men to end after X-Men: Apocalypse , it's safe to say she can negotiate her way out of any surprise Hunger Games sequels or spinoffs.) Of course, not all cast members can be Oscar-winning Hollywood It Girls. It's quite possible some of the supporting cast members are hoping for a spinoff, but that too seems unlikely given the lack of source material.
That's not to say there isn't some glimmer of hope. In July, Hutcherson teased that there could be life for The Hunger Games beyond Mockingjay — Part 2. When asked if there were plans to expand the series during an appearance on Conan, Hutcherson said, "There is." The actor was quick to backtrack his admission, saying, "I'm sorry. No, I can't say that. I'm sorry. We'll see what happens."
At the time, reports concluded that there were no plans for other films, and it was generally accepted that Hutcherson was just pulling a prank — a cruel, cruel prank.
Hunger Games fans, take comfort in knowing that just because there are probably no further plans for Hunger Games movies right now, that could definitely change. After all, it happened to Harry Potter; new photos of Eddie Redmayne's Harry Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them , were just released. Fantastic Beasts is set for release in 2016 — five years after the release of the final Harry Potter film, Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Who's to say The Hunger Games won't birth a similar spin-off in another five years or so? That said, it's worth noting that Fantastic Beasts was written by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, giving it a huge amount of credibility. If The Hunger Games is revived in the future, let's hope it has a similar level of authenticity.
Finally, there's always the chance that the studio behind The Hunger Games series, Lionsgate, will reboot the series sometime in the future. After all, Columbia Pictures made The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield just five years after the release of Spider-Man 3 and 10 years after Spider-Man. And another incarnation of Spider-Man is currently in the works. Maybe instead of a continuation of The Hunger Games film series we know and love, we'll get an entirely new one.
Hey, if all else fails, there's always the promise of The Hunger Games theme park.
Want more Hunger Games? Watch Bustle's drunk recap of Mockingjay, Part 1 below:
Images: Lionsgate; Giphy (3)
