Continuing the expansion of its global blockbuster Hunger Games franchise into new businesses, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a premier next generation global content leader, is teaming with Dutch media company Imagine Nation and U.S. based Triangular Entertainment to bring The Hunger Games to the stage using innovative and immersive staging techniques, the companies announced this week. The Hunger Games theatrical experience will launch in summer 2016 in a brand new purpose-built theater next to Wembley Stadium in London, UK.
The Hunger Games theatrical experience will be produced by award-winning Broadway producer Robin de Levita, co-founder of Imagine Nation, along with legendary UK promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Triangular Entertainment’s Warren Adams and Brandon Victor Dixon of WalkRunFly Productions and entertainment executives Robert Harris and R&R Media’s Gary Ricci.
De Levita has recently created groundbreaking presentation formats for two productions in Holland. Soldier of Orange, the hit Dutch musical, has been sold out since it opened four years ago. The audience sits in a 360-degree rotating auditorium that turns from set to set creating an unforgettable experience. ANNE, the first authorized play in 55 years based on “The Diary of Anne Frank”, uses rotating life sized stage sets. ANNE premiered in May 2014 in Amsterdam and has received rave reviews from around the globe.
“Robin de Levita and the entire production team are the perfect partners for extending The Hunger Games franchise into a live theatrical experience,” said Lionsgate Chief Marketing Officer Tim Palen. “Their creative genius, combined with world-class production values and state-of-the-art technology will provide a uniquely immersive experience for fans around the world.”
“I’m thrilled to be partnering with an innovative next generation studio like Lionsgate on a property that resonates so deeply with global audiences,” said De Levita. “The theater is a fantastic medium to bring the many meaningful layers of Suzanne Collins’ writing to life.”
The first two installments of the global blockbuster Hunger Games franchise have already grossed more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was the highest-grossing domestic box office release of 2013 and the 10th highest-grossing domestic release of all time. Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy of books has already sold more than 80 million copies around the world and has spent six years on the New York Times list. The next installment of the franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, will be released worldwide on November 21, directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Academy Award® winner Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson.
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