Despite the lukewarm box office debut for the final film in The Hunger Games saga, Lionsgate said today that it still wants to make prequels.
Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns said that the franchise “will live on and on” during a speech at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, Variety reports. Burns didn’t give any further details of the potential projects.
Burns declined to call the box office results for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 a disappointment, notes The Wrap. “It’s a high-class problem when you’re complaining about a $101 million opening,” he said.
So far, Mockingjay 2 has grossed $227 million and won the box office for the third consecutive week.
It’s no wonder that Lionsgate, which is considered an indie studio, would not want to see The Hunger Games end. The company has planned stage shows, museum exhibitions and theme parks, so even if a prequel never gets off the ground, the studio has other ways of milking the franchise.
The Hunger Games films were based on Suzanne Collins’ trilogy and starred Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson. Lawrence probably wouldn’t want to make another one, so the success of a prequel would have to lean on The Hunger Games brand, not her star power.