‘Hunger Games’ continue after Hoffman

The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman by an accidental drug overdose in February has not sidelined production of the latest installment of Hunger Games, its director said.

Francis Lawrence and the stars of the blockbuster franchise, including Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence spoke at the Cannes Film Festival.

Seymour Hoffman’s sudden death in New York occurred while the latest installment in the blockbuster series Mockingjay Part 1 was still being shot.

Rather than recasting the role, director Francis Lawrence chose to work on script rewrites to get around the loss of his character.

“Although no one is a replacement for Phil, the story still works,” he said.

The festival attracted the usual array of high-profile stars, including Sylvester Stallone, Rob Pattinson, James McAvoy and Eva Longoria, who had an embarrassing fashion faux pas with her dress last year when she accidentally showed the world that she was wearing no underwear. This year’s most talked about red carpet controversy involved Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera, who was targeted by a notorious Ukrainian prankster who attempted to crawl under her dress as she lined up for a red carpet shot.

— Reuters