Sad news this morning that Philip Seymour Hoffman, the Hunger Games‘ movie franchise’s Plutarch Heavensbee was found dead this morning at the age of 46, of an apparent drug overdose. Our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.
Mr. Hoffman had received many accolades for his film roles and his portrayal of the Gamesmaker-turned-revolutionary was one of the many welcome additions to Catching Fire. He had been set to reprise the role in Mockingjay.
I don’t know how far along the filming for the first Mockingjay was, but it will be interesting to see how the filmmakers cope with the loss. Recast the role? Kill off the character, perhaps introducing his assistant Fulvia Cardew to take his place as Propos-maker in District 13? Even more interesting would be to take one of their other popular Capitol figures, like Claudius Templesmith or Caesar Flickerman and have them turn traitor and join the revolution as part of the rebel’s PR team.
Can anyone think of any other creative solutions? This is certainly a bigger challenge than the loss of “Crabbe” for Deathly Hallows, Part II.
Update: Lionsgate has released a statement that Hoffman’s work on the Mockingjay films was nearly complete. So, perhaps the filmmakers will be able to piece it together, a la Brandon Lee in The Crow.
Even a Gamemaker can be seduced by morphling, it seems, yet another terrible reminder of how celebrities are not so different from Victors. So very tragic. We can only hope that his story’s sad ending may save others on the same path.
His Plutarch was so remarkable, so perfect, it would be impossible to totally replace him, so the movie folks will probably shift another character, report of his activities instead of showing them, something like that. I imagine Cressida will be put into a more prominent role, as the actress has been feted quite a bit.
I do hope there is enough of his work in the film to allow his last work to really showcase the tremendous talent we have lost and to generate a posthumous Oscar for supporting actor, though that is no consolation to his family, alas.
“Even a Gamemaker can be seduced by morphling, it seems, yet another terrible reminder of how celebrities are not so different from Victors. ” It would actually be fitting to directly allude to this (the circumstances of his real-life death) if they kill off the character.
It would be cool to see Cressida take a larger leadership role; the hunger games in the Capitol have been so male-dominant at the highest power levels, that I think there’s potential for a strong contrast to this in 13, where the leaders — Coin and Paylor — are already female. I think having Cressida or Fulvia lead how the revolution is designed will actually make for a stronger movie where Katniss is surrounded by strong female figures.