After months of teasers, Mockingjay: Part 1 finally has a full length trailer! The much-anticipated third installment of The Hunger Games series is set to be even darker and more suspenseful than its predecessors as the story hurtles towards its intense conclusion. You can watch the trailer, titled “The Mockingjay Lives,” here.
Also big news in YA movies this week is the casting of model Cara Delevingne in the adaptation of John Green’s Paper Towns. Delevingne will star opposite Nat Wolf, who starred in Green’s first book-to-movie adaptation, this summer’s The Fault in Our Stars. You can read more about Paper Towns and Delevingne in The Guardian’s article here.
Ben-Hur fans can get excited as the remake slated for 2016 moves steadily forward with the announcement of its lead this week. Boardwalk Empire actor Jack Huston landed the titular role and will star alongside Morgan Freeman as Ildarin and possibly Fantastic Four actor Toby Kebbell as the villain Messala. Yahoo! Movies gives a short profile on Huston and sum up of the casting news here.
The indie film Band of Robbers wrapped production this week, though its release date has not been announced. Kyle Gallner and Adam Nee star in this modernized adaptation of Mark Twain’s most beloved characters, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. You can read about some of the details of this imaginative comedy thriller from Variety here.
The Toronto International Film Festival ended this past weekend and Indiewire has a comprehensive list of the good, the bad, and the disappointing for your perusal here. (And check out Ken Morefield’s list of the best performances!)
Jessica Gibson is an intern with Christianity Today Movies and a student at The King’s College in New York City.
