Now that The Twilight Saga menace is behind us – this will be the first Twilight free year since 2008 – Katniss, Peeta, and Gale are here to fill the tween love-triangle void until 2015. With less than 10 months to go before the imminent release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Lionsgate has begun to release the first marketing pieces to excite the fans.

By now, most of the world knows who Katniss Everdeen is. Unfortunately for Jennifer Lawrence, she will be recognized as this character for the rest of her life until she grows old; much like Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. Entertainment Weekly has the first look at Catching Fire, which is sure to get the Hunger Games loyalists very excited. (Click on any of the images to enlarge.)

Above is a sultry image of Finnick (Sam Claflin) getting all touchy feely with Katniss. These pictures really don’t show much, but we do get our first good look at Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee exchanging words with Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson). (This series should get its own Razzie-like award for most ridiculous names ever.) We never see Hoffman in franchises like these, so it will be interesting to see how he does.

The rest of the pictures aren’t that glamorous either, but it’s always nice to see character favorites back in their get-ups. Below we see Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) with Katniss, President Snow (Donald Sutherland), Mrs. Everdeen with Primrose, and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) getting taken away. We also have been given a few production shots with the director, Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend; Constantine; Water for Elephants).

For those of us not familiar with the books, here is the official, vague synopsis:

Katniss Everdeen and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark have barely returned home after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games when they are whisked away once again by the Capitol. Forced to leave her family and best friend Gale, Katniss is dispatched on a victory tour of Panem with Peeta, where rebellion is seething in all 12 districts.

The Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the most diabolical edition of the Hunger Games yet the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.

Sounds so captivating. I bet Peeta incorporates his cake baking skills again. And I really hope Seneca’s beard plays a vital role in this sequel. In other news, if you share your love for The Hunger Games on Twitter using #TheSpark hashtag, according to We Are Movie Geeks, your name could end up in the end credits.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire releases on November 22, 2013.

Source: EW Article 1 & Article 2 [Via /Film] & We Are Movie Geeks