Stanley Tucci has some major range.
Just think about it: how many Hollywood stars have the chops to appear in comedies like "The Devil Wears Prada," action blockbusters like "Captain America," family films like "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" and psychological dramas like "The Lovely Bones," which, by the way, Tucci earned an Oscar nomination for? The guy can do pretty much anything.
But he's never done anything quite as big as this.
The speculation can end, because Lionsgate has revealed that Tucci has indeed signed on to "The Hunger Games," where he will play television personality Caesar Flickerman.
For those who don't yet know your Foxface from your elbow, here's the quick scoop: set in a nasty future world where the government is a bunch of jerks, "The Hunger Games" tells the story of a bunch of kids forced to fight to the death on national television basically for giggles and grins. Which is where Tucci comes in: Caesar Flickerman is the interviewer who helps bring combatants like Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) to life through his occasionally insightful questions.
The casting is a bit of a surprise, because although it was known that Tucci was up for a role in the series (we told you about it last month), it was widely assumed that Tucci would be playing Katniss' stylist Cinna or perhaps even the murderous President Snow.
Still, you know what they say about assumptions, which is why we're glad the casting process is nearly complete. In addition to Tucci, after all, the producers also recently revealed on their Facebook page that Imanol Yepez-Frias and Annie Thurman will be playing the Boy and Girl Tributes from District 9, which ends our long-shot dreams of a crossover involving Sharlto Copley.
There are still a few key parts left to be announced -- Cato and President Snow, for example -- but we expect to find out which stars will be rounding out the cast soon enough: filming is set to begin later this month for a March 23, 2012, release.
