A seemingly offhand comment by Lionsgate's CEO, Jon Feltheimer, has fans of "The Hunger Games" outraged, and rightly so. During the film studio's quarterly earnings call for investors, Feltheimer spoke about the various partnerships Lionsgate had forged with the likes of Comcast, Samsung and others. Then things took an unexpected turn, when the CEO said the following:
"...we're deep into conversations with prospective partners on four continents to explore theme park attractions and other location-based entertainment opportunities."
Then he steamrolled right along to talk about other things that are making Lionsgate gazillions of dollars.
Let's get something straight: "The Hunger Games" may be a massively popular young adult novel-based franchise, but Harry Potter it ain't. Where J.K. Rowling's fantasy stories were infused with whimsy, fun, and grand adventure, Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games" books — and the movies based on them — are a dark, somber look at how war affects and changes a person. They're exciting stories, but nothing in them screams "vacation destination."
Past reports have indicated Lionsgate's desire to build an entire theme park around "The Hunger Games," but this comment by Feltheimer sounds like they may be exploring the idea of installing "Hunger Games" attractions at existing parks. In the earnings call, Feltheimer mentions the "Hunger Games traveling museum" of film memorabilia that's being devised for summer 2015, and that's not a bad start. At least a museum strikes the proper tone for memorializing the horrors of war.
Feltheimer has talked about building Hunger Games attractions as far back as November 2013, but never has he discussed the kinds of rides or attractions Lionsgate hopes to build. The studio has already partnered with The Thinkwell Group, the company that designed the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London. If the two companies want to have any chance of doing something fun, they'll have to avoid the most dire stuff like the Reaping or the horrific conditions of District 12.
These aspects of "The Hunger Games" franchise cut to the heart of the problem. The Harry Potter attractions at Universal Studios work because they give families the chance to live out their fantasies of being part of that world. But no one fantasizes about being a Tribute forced to fight to the death in The Hunger Games.
The most they could hope to come up with is something that emphasizes the futuristic aspects of the Capitol, like a fashion boutique for buying outrageous Capitol couture. Maybe there's something they could come up with for the Training Center, or the chariot rides the Tributes take, or the Victory Tour on that nifty train that Katniss and Peeta rode on. But it's not like they could do a "Race to the Cornucopia" ride that would send kids up a pneumatic tube into the arena where they'd await the countdown to launch into a life-or-death run to be the first to grab weapons.
This whole thing reeks of bad idea. But hey, that's never stopped anyone in Hollywood before.
