Welcome, welcome. Many millions of people flocked to the theater to watch the first three Hunger Games films, and the trend shall continue for the November 20 release of Mockingjay – Part II. Given the willingness of audiences to continue dropping dollars upon this franchise, Lionsgate has taken the death-match theme to new heights with an amusement park in Atlanta, Georgia. The park will be based upon the arena adventures of one Katniss Everdeen and her fellow tributes as they fight until their last breath.
The themes of Suzanne Collins’ novels, while brutal and heady, worked well enough as written and interpreted onscreen. What could be seen as mere exploitation of these teenagers’ fates functioned as a contemporary commentary on media voyeurism and reality television. As an amusement park, the concept is … questionable at best. Nonetheless, Lionsgate’s theme park extravaganza has volleyed from a mere rumor to an actual thing.
This is Lionsgate’s artistic rendering of what the park shall look like. A roller coaster and palm trees will flank the sinister-looking government buildings.
At nighttime, the entire park will light up in a way that would make Walt Disney proud.
As The New York Times points out, Lionsgate also has plans to create theme parks based upon its Now You See Me and Step Up holdings, both of which are much more “amusing” than the thought of children fighting to the death. With the latter, there’s also the promise of a dancing Channing Tatum. Not bad.
(Via The New York Times & Fox 5 News Atlanta)
