Written by on Nov 22, 2013. Posted in On Location

Hunger Games Catching Fire films on location in Hawaii

Dystopian sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire filmed scenes on location in Hawaii, using the tropical setting for the story’s jungle and forest scenes. The film follows two young heroes competing in a life-or-death competition in a future North America ruled by a tyrannous wealthy class.

Places including Florida, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico were all scouted as potential filming locations for Catching Fire, but the jungles and oceans of Oahu in Hawaii eventually secured the shoot.

“We are known for having stunning tropical locations that are also very film-friendly and accessible, which all lent itself to being chosen. Hawaii also has a good incentive which makes for a winning combination,” explained Walea Constantinau of the Honolulu Film Office.

Hawaii is firmly established as a popular filming location and earlier this year increased the value of its filming incentives, including higher rebate figures for its smaller islands.

We are known for having stunning tropical locations that are also very film-friendly and accessible, which all lent itself to being chosen.

Walea Constantinau, Honolulu Film Office

The US state recently hosted filming for a new adaptation of Godzilla and is also hoping to be used for a third Jurassic Park sequel that’s now known as Jurassic World.

Television production has also been healthy in Hawaii in recent years. Long-running drama Lost filmed locally for six seasons and a rebooted version of crime drama Hawaii Five-0 is a current resident.

The Hunger Games filmed on location in North Carolina for the first movie, but shifted west to Georgia to portray the wider world of Catching Fire. This is thought to have been partly to get a better tax credit on the stars’ salaries, which inflated massively after the huge success of the first film.

Georgia offers a competitive 20% location filming incentive and has become one of the top production centres in the US. This is in part due to the record-breaking success of zombie drama The Walking Dead, which was recently renewed for a fifth season.

(Hunger Games images: Lionsgate)