Philip Seymour Hoffman and Woody Harrelson in Catching Fire
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Philip Seymour Hoffman had one major, emotional scene left to film in the final installment of the Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. THR spoke with a Lionsgate executive who said, "We’re all extraordinarily sad. But as it relates to production, it’s going to have no impact. Obviously, we're going to have a couple of work-around issues but the movie will be creatively whole. His performances in both [remaining] movies will be up to the best of his craft. We feel it will be a good tribute to him."
Hoffman died tragically on Sunday of an apparent drug overdose.
The Lionsgate executive would not expand on the crucial scene that remains to be shot. But fans can certainly guess what scene it might be. Lionsgate previously stated that the actor had about a week of filming left on Mockingjay Part 2. The final film in the series is set for release in November 2015.
A source with ties to the project said that with the exception of one major scene in the final film, "they seem to have plans that don’t seem very complicated" to complete both pictures without Hoffman. "You can do digital things, you can have conversations where you’re not focusing on him but the people he’s talking to," this observer said.
Rob Legato, a veteran effects supervisor whose latest credit is The Wolf of Wall Street, says he has no specific knowledge about the Hunger Games films but at this point, technology is most likely good enough to generate a convincing image of Hoffman, though some scenes might need to be rewritten. "These days the technology of using someone's likeness is a whole lot easier to do," he said. "I won't say you could generate a Philip Seymour Hoffman with all the acting ability, but you could certainly replicate him for a shot or two."
On a personal note:
The LAST thing we want to do is be insensitive in reporting this information. A man has died tragically which is completely devastating to his loved ones and fans and, obviously, this is the most important part of any story about Philip Seymour Hoffman. We are providing information, which is our commitment to you as a Hunger Games fan site. It's completely natural for people to be curious about what happens next, and we're simply providing that information to the numerous fans who have repeatedly asked us for it.