After months of casting rumors, Lionsgate has completed the search for "The Hunger Games"' trio of stars. Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth will join Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss as Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne in the film adaptation of the series.
As with the casting of Katniss, fans are incredibly vocal about the news. Some are thrilled, while others, well, not so much. But that's the case with any casting news, especially for such a big franchise. Yesterday we asked you to vote in our poll to let us know what you think of your new Peeta and Gale. As of press time, you said neither actor was your ideal choice. But you also had a lot to say that couldn't be summed up with a yes or no answer. We scoured the Hollywood Crush comments and Twitter to see how you, the fans, were reacting to the casting news. Here's what we found:
@meggiedear "Worst. Casting. News. Ever. (Especially 4 Gale). R.I.P. Hunger Games movie"
@cjackson234 "@TheHungerGames omg omg omg I LOVE Josh hutcherson <333"
@The SiennaSkye "Josh Hutcherson was cast as Peeta Mellark!? YES! They picked a cutie!! (:"
@Super_Lulu1 "Ahhhhh I am in full Hunger game fangirl mode!!! Can't believe we finally have our Peeta & Gale actors!!! Josh & Liam are prefect 4 the roles"
@camibandlover "uhmm i just found out Josh and Liam were cast as Peeta/Gale....*dies* this is not good...what happened to Hunter and Drew/Roy? *dies more*"
@duhhnelle "Peeta is trending.. I'm excited and saddened at the same time.. Good Gale choice tho!"
@luvbabyb "Liam Hemsworth as the Hunger Games' Gale, huh? Well, he sure is pretty. #iapprove"
@MikaMarie33 "i think Liam Hemsworth should be Peeta and Josh Hutcherson should be Gale. there's gonna be a lot of colored hair on set when they film."
Allsmilez: "I literally cried (not hard though) when i read this. hunter parrish was my perfect peeta, drew roy was the perfect gale...this hurts alot. there's no positive side to this."
Michelle: "Definitely Hunter Parrish as Peeta. Gary Ross shows 0 respect for the fansof the books."
Galla: "They're ok, I kinda like them as peeta and gale but, truth is that in my eyes they don't 'work' with JLawrence especially Josh who looks a bit younger for Jennifer. I think we just have to wait and see!"
RationalvsRandom: "Lucas Till would have been perfect, but I'll stay optimistic. They could both be amazing in the film. Keep the faith!"
Readinglover13: "I don't agree with these casting choices at all. But all I can do is at least hope they do the characters justice. When I read The Hunger Games back in August of 2010 I thought 'there's no way this could be a movie' because it was all so complicated. I just hope they can pull this off!"
What do you think of Josh as Peeta and Liam as Gale? They obviously convinced the casting gods, so what do they have to do to convince you? Tell us how you really feel in the comments and on Twitter.
** Hollywood Crush Twitter