Lionsgate Looking At Ways To Extend Hunger Games Franchise

May the odds be ever in Lionsgate’s favor. The smaller studio has suffered a string of cinematic setbacks over the past year, but Lionsgate is looking to turn their luck over with upcoming films such as Power Rangers (2017). And, more importantly, the studio is now trying to figure out how they could expand their hugely successful Hunger Games franchise.

Variety is reporting that Lionsgate’s CEO Jon Feltheimer is definitely interested in expanding the Hunger Games franchise as its cinematic tenure ended last year. He said, “I would say that there’s no big franchise that any studio has that they’re not trying to look at prequels, sequels, spinoffs, some version of that. We think that there’s a great piece of IP with Hunger Games. It’s a great world.”

One thing’s for sure: Feltheimer is on the money about Panem’s potential, maybe quite literally. The Hunger Games films left fans filling full after they watched each installment, and plenty of die-hard viewers were sad to bid the franchise farewell. While Lionsgate is currently looking to explore Hunger Games through stage shows and theme park rides, the studio might eventually find themselves delving back into Panem via the small-screen.

After all, Lionsgate did recently close a $4.4 billion deal for Starz which would provide the studio with an outlet to air premium content on TV. Not only would it help bolster Lionsgate’s line-up but airing a successful Hunger Games spin-off would open doors to future feature-length films if everything goes well. Assuming Lionsgate is able to pursue such productions with author Suzanne Collins’ blessing, it’d be crazy for the studio to overlook such an opportunity.

Some fans, however, fear a Hunger Games spin-off might oversaturate the entertainment industry with yet another dystopian tale. Even Lionsgate’s own Divergent franchise has suffered due to fans’ boredom with the genre, and other projects like The 5th Wave struggled to find an interested audience. However, if Lionsgate pitches their possible prequel or sequel right, dedicated Hunger Games fans will almost certainly answer the studio’s call.