The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Judging by the new trailer for Catching Fire, the upcoming second installment of the Hunger Games movie quadrilogy, the only thing worse than dying in the Hunger Games arena is living to tell the tale—or not tell it, as the case may be. The new two-and-a-half-minute sneak peek, which premièred last night during the MTV Movie Awards, picks up right after the co-victory of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), as the two embark on the grayest, least victorious-looking victory tour ever. Meanwhile, Donald Sutherland and the franchise’s newest high-profile acquisition, Philip Seymour Hoffman, scheme in voiceover about the best way to eliminate the threat of revolution sparked by Katniss’ victory. This sneak peek is more about context-setting than depicting the events that will make up the bulk of the movie; those who have read the source material will recognize almost everything here as setup, with only a concluding hint from Sutherland—“Her entire species must be eradicated”—regarding Catching Fire’s main event. It will be interesting to see if future trailers will continue to play it close to the vest or dive into the deep end.