Not content being confined to theater screens and book pages, Lionsgate has announced two major initiatives designed to expand the reach of its marquee franchise, The Hunger Games. One is a traveling, museum-style exhibit called The Hunger Games: The Exhibition, The other is a brand new mobile-based role-playing game. It sure seems like the studio is going to great lengths to ensure Katniss fans will have plenty to see and do while they await the final two installments of the popular film series. Read on to learn more.
The Hunger Games: The Exhibition will launch in 2015 as a traveling, interactive exhibit that will present costumes and props from the film, along with engaging activities for fans of the series. Details on where the exhibit will travel have yet to be released, but if you live near a major city, you are probably in luck. If the tour proves a success, don’t be surprised to see Lionsgate leverage this event and explore the possibility of an expanded, permanent, theme-park style attraction in the years to come.
The other news coming from Lionsgate is their announcement of their intention to enter the mobile gaming field. The studio has partnered with game developer Kabam to create an interactive, role-playing mobile game set in The Hunger Games universe. With mobile devices increasingly becoming the marquee platform for game developers, and with two more movies on the horizon still to market, this seems like a no-brainer.
If it sounds as if Lionsgate is going overboard with their plans for The Hunger Games, look around. Marvel has set up shop in Times Square with their similarly conceived Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. exhibit. The Walking Dead took over PetCo Park. Universal Orlando basically built Hogwarts. At some point in the last few years, Hollywood realized that to take full advantage (meaning, maximize profits) of the insatiable demand of their biggest fan bases, a feature film every two years will not suffice. They understood they were also going to have to come to the fans with new content and experiences. The Hunger Games is the latest major property to grasp this, and they certainly will not be the last.