Thanks to The Hunger Games, Josh Hutcherson now has much more power to pick and choose the projects he’d like to work on, and it seems one that he fancies is the dark psychological drama Ape. It’ll be a bit of a departure for the actor, who has had some serious roles (The Kids Are All Right), but has generally steered clear of thriller territory.

TheWrap reports that newcomer Jon Johnston has come up with the script, while Miguel Sapochnik is set to direct. There aren’t too many details on the plot, other than that it’s about a young man who struggles with “mental illness, love and a deep-rooted family secret.”

Hutcherson describes it as, “A passion project for us and to see it get made would truly be a dream come true.” Hopefully that means this isn’t just another generic thriller. There’s no news on when it might shoot.

Over the last few days, Lionsgate has been releasing a slew of Capitol Fashion Portraits of various characters, ranging from Katniss to newcomers like Johanna Mason (Jena Malone). Now it’s the turn of the main men, with pics for Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), and newbie Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin).

Finnick is a former champion, known for being cocky, arrogant and a favourite of the ladies of the Capitol. While Katniss initially takes a disliking to him, she come to realise there’s more under the surface than his public image suggests.

One thing we’ve been wondering is why Gale got a portrait? After all, while all the other pics are either Capitol residents or former champions, Gale’s never been out of District 12 (well, he’s been into the woods nearby, but that doesn’t really count.

The film is out November 22nd.

If you win The Hunger Games you have to go on a tour around the district, and so in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, that’s exactly what Peeta and Katniss must do, whether they want to or not. Now two posters for this Victory Tour have been released, giving off a rather virginal, marriage feeling.

Here’s the synopsis: Catching Fire begins as Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.

The film’s due out November 22nd. It’ll be interesting to see if Lionsgate continue this marketing strategy, teasing us as if we were residents of Panem.

He’s only 20, but for a couple of years it seemed Josh Hutcherson transition from child to adult actor had stalled. He was always in the running for roles in major movies, such as Spider-man, but only got roles in the likes of Cirque Du Freak, which weren’t exactly career-helpers. However thanks to The Kids Are All Right and Hunger Games, he’s now taken seriously as an actor and as a box office draw.

He’s also a major LGBT-ally through his organisation Straight But Not Narrow, which aims to end bully of gay teens in schools and help give them support networks.

He’s now scores a role opposite Benicio Del Toro in the drug-centred drama Paradise Lost (not to be confused with the stalled John Milton adaptation or the West Memphis 3 documentary of the same name). Hutcherson is set to play Nick, a water sports enthusiast who, whilst visiting his brother, falls head over heels for a young woman. However what he doesn’t initially know with that she’s the niece of Colombia’s largest exporter of cocaine, Pablo Escobar.

This based on a true story biopic will mark the directorial debut of Andrea Di Stefano, who recently wrote the screenplay for Life of Pi. Production begins next March in Panama. (Source: Deadline)

Last June, Lionsgate revealed that portions of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be shot in the IMAX format. Now, star Josh Hutcherson revealed that it’s all scenes in the games arena that will be shot in IMAX.

In an interview with MTV, he says, “They’re shooting, I think, all the stuff in the arena is going to be IMAX. So when you go see it in IMAX, you’ll see the regular movie when we’re in the Districts and in the Capitol. When you see us go up in the pod in the games, it will open up into IMAX. It will be amazing. It’s very cool.”

The production recently moved from Atlanta to Hawaii, so they can shoot the jungle scenes in director Francis Lawrence’s sequel (each Hunger Games arena is different, with this one having a jungle-covered area).

The actor also spoke about the watery Cornucopia set that they built in Atlanta, “They actually built a cornucopia in Atlanta that we shot at, and it looks amazing, and the way that the spokes got out, and the way everyone comes up on the pedestals and the water – it looks incredible,” he gushed. “I’ve seen some of the CG renderings that [director] Francis [Lawrence] has worked on, and they look really, really great.”

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire comes to theaters December 22nd, 2013.

It’s a full year until The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is released on November 22nd 2013, and so Lionsgate has released a motion poster for the movie via Facebook.

It’s a fairly familiar image, with the Mockingjay aflame, but I’m certain there’ll be a lot of fans who get excited by it anyway. The plot of the sequel initially sees Hunger Games victor Katniss and Peeta going on a tour of the districts, where they see dissent growing. It’s then revealed that the 75th Hunger Games will see former champions compete, and that means out heroes will have to go back into the arena and fight for survival once more.

Francis Lawrence directs, with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Sam Claflin and Jeffrey Wright all starring. After Catching Fire we the have two part finale, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Part 1 & 2 coming in November 2014 & 2015 respectively.