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‘Hunger Games: Mockingjay’ to be split into two movies

Following in the footsteps of the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight Saga" franchises, the third and final "Hunger Games" book, "Mockingjay," will be split into two films. Confirming what many suspected would happen, Lionsgate made it official today by dating "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" for Nov. 21, 2014 and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2" for Nov. 20, 2015. The extra "Hunger Games" movie means that loyal fans can now look forward to three-and-a-half more years of Katniss and Peeta on the big screen.

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For fans of the series, the question of where in the story of "Mockingjay" the split will occur naturally arises. There are plenty of points in the story where a cliffhanger could be inserted, but at exactly what point that will happen is still a mystery. Given what is known about the "Mockingjay" novel, some assumptions can be made about where the split will happen, though.

Spoiler Warning: Those who haven't read the last two "Hunger Games" books should be aware that there will definitely be "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" spoilers ahead -- though the plot is so convoluted that it may not make any sense anyway.

After the events of the second book, things have really gone south for Katniss and the gang. Though she and Peeta have survived the 75th Hunger Games (called the Quarter Quell), District 12 lies in ruins, having been destroyed by the Capitol as retribution for their rabble rousing. At the start of "Mockingjay," Katniss finds herself with the District 13 rebels, while Peeta has been captured and apparently brainwashed by the Capitol. Katniss and the rebels eventually rescue Peeta from the Capitol, but after facing months of torture, he's a shadow of his former self.

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With Peeta and others back in the fold, it's at this point that the group makes plans to attack the Capitol and take down President Snow once and for all. If the rest of the film series follows the books as closely as the first movie did, then it's safe to assume that this is probably where "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" will conclude. It's a fairly self-contained and interesting story arc, and saves the action-packed offensive against the Capitol for the fourth film.

However, the argument could be made that "Mockingjay" actually doesn't need to be split into two films, and that with some tweaking to the story, a big screen version could easily be adapted into a single film. Can you say cash grab? Unlike the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight Saga" franchises, whose literary finales were both well over 700 pages, Suzanne Collins' final "Hunger Games" book is barely 400 pages long. That's around the same length as the previous two books, the first of which was adapted into a film that was just a hair over two hours long. The "Catching Fire" film is likely to be around the same length.

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Where the "Deathly Hallows" and "Breaking Dawn" films needed to cut corners just to fit everything from the books into the respective film adaptations (and they still had to skip several plot points), the much shorter "Mockingjay" might not have enough meat on its bones to require the consecutive film treatment.

However, given how financially successful the first "Hunger Games" movie was, that's probably the least of Lionsgate's concerns. The studio can easily fill out the two films with new material or scenes that occurred off-page in the novel, and fans probably won't be too upset about the prospect of more "Hunger Games." Shut up and take their money, Lionsgate.