Elizabeth Banks Cast in The Hunger Games

Earlier today we told you that a couple of unknowns Dayo Okeniyi and Amanda Stenberg had been cast to star in The Hunger Games as Tributes alongside Winters Bone star Jennifer Lawrence and now comes some really big news for fans as Elizabeth Banks according to Variety is in talks to star in The Hunger Games and play the role of Effie Trinket. This is a major role as Effie appears in all of the Hunger Games Books.

I do not know the books at all but fortunately there is a pretty good description of the character for those of us who are fans of Elizabeth Banks but dont know the books. Via the Hunger Games Wiki Effie is described as;

Effie can be a bit of a airhead at times, totally oblivious to the sorrows and misfortunes that fall upon District 12…. She’s very strict about manners and being “proper”, as that is the Capitol’s way. She is a classic Capitol resident with impeccable manners, getting overly distressed at seeing her wig being tilted … on television, during the recaps. She is also a perfectionist and extremely punctual, complaining about how a five minute train delay would affect her tightly packed schedule.

I have been a fan of Elizabeth Banks ever since she starred in Slither and since then she has proven time and time again that she is not only gorgeous but incredibly talented. To me this casting is  a huge coup and combined with the casting of Jennifer Lawrence just brings more promise to this film franchise. Perhaps I was far to early in comparing it to Twilight.

“The Hunger Games” is being directed by Gary Ross and chronicles a dystopic Capitol which requires its twelve subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl, forced to participate in the annual “Hunger Games,” a fight-to-the-death live televised event.  Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is chosen in the lottery to participate and Katniss volunteers to take her place.

Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.  The Hunger Games novel has been on the New York Times best seller list for over 100 consecutive weeks. Foreign rights for the book, published by Scholastic have been sold in 41 countries. Lionsgate will release “The Hunger Games” on March 23, 2012.

If your a Hunger Games fan be sure to also checkout the slick Hunger Games Movie Posters we posted earlier last week.