I wish I knew how to stop. At this point, the trickle announcements of cast members joining up with Lionsgate's THE HUNGER GAMES have stopped being merely annoying and somewhat distracting and are now just bizarre and teeth-grinding. We have another HUNGER GAMES casting announcement for you. It is not for an important character. It is not for Haymitch or President Snow. It is, however, a talented actor. Stanley Tucci has joined THE HUNGER GAMES as Caesar Flickerman.

The last buzz we heard about Tucci was that he was offered an undisclosed role. Back then, I guessed that he would be cast as President Snow. I was wrong. Flickerman, for those of you not familiar with the book series (hell, even some of you familiar with the series may be struggling to remember this one), is the host of the Hunger Games. He's essentially the Ryan Seacrest of the event.

Check out the full press release after the break.

STANLEY TUCCI CAST AS CAESAR FLICKERMAN IN LIONSGATE’S THE HUNGER GAMES
 
LOS ANGELES, CA, April 29, 2011- Lionsgate® and the filmmakers of THE HUNGER GAMES are pleased to announce that Stanley Tucci (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE LOVELY BONES) has been cast in the role of Caesar Flickerman in the much anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ worldwide smash hit novel.  
 
Tucci is represented by CAA and Anonymous Content. 
 
About The Role
Caesar Flickerman is utterly familiar to all the citizens of Panem as the l host of the Hunger Games. Known for his outrageous appearance and buoyant personality, his upbeat interviews of the 24 tributes – a boy and a girl from each of the country’s 12 districts – are presented on every television in the nation.  He is famous for turning any conversation around to the positive and finding humor in even the most dire circumstances. 
 
About The Film
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games.  Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.
Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
 
THE HUNGER GAMES will be directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Collins’ best-selling novel, which has over 3 million copies in print in the United States alone, is the first in a trilogy of novels which have developed a global following. 
 
Lionsgate will release “The Hunger Games” on March 23, 2012.

As a fan of Tucci, I'm always glad to see him get more roles. But, as a fan of The Hunger Games, I have to wonder just how they've lured in such a talented actor for a role that is, in the books, quite small. Tucci is an excellent fit for the role, certainly, but it's not even a supporting role in the books - Flickerman has a few lines, and his "importance" in the book is not based on his work, but some of the things that happen while he's doing it (such as when he's interviewing the tributes before the Games kick off).

Basically, I am concerned that the script has inflated nonessential roles, and that's how they've started landing the big talent.

I've already heard rumors that the script has changed things up - rumors on how they've beefed up Gale's role in the first film (a change that would pretty handily cancel out some of the few things Katniss asks of him) and word that some crucial scenes from the book have been handled less-than-satisfactorily. As a fan of the books, I want the films to be great, but it's getting harder and harder for me to keep thinking that things sound good.

And please, Lionsgate, please, give us a Haymitch.