Game Change is the biggest ratings smash that HBO has had in eight years, and The Hunger Games looks set to be the biggest box-office monster this weekend, maybe even a record-breaker. So we wondered: what would happen if you combined these two phenomena? How about Hunger Game Change, a fight to the death to become President of the United States, with all the major players entering the arena, but only one surviving.
At least, that’s how it would work if Game Change writer Danny Strong were scripting. “It would be the entire [2008] election, and all the characters,” he proposed when Daily Intel bumped into him at The Hunger Games premiere party at the Top of the Standard Tuesday night. In other words, don’t limit the scope to Sarah Palin and John McCain — we need all the tributes we can get: “Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards.” And of course, Woody Harrelson could be ever-present as the mentor to one of the lead tributes — Steve Schmidt, meet Haymitch. Who would win the match? Strong bets on Edwards campaign killer Rielle Hunter, “because she has special powers that no one can truly comprehend. I’m just saying — special powers.” (Plus, her last name is Hunter — come on!)
Still, Rielle might be no match for actor Tony Danza, who’s itching to get in the ring: “I’m from New York! Trust me, I’d survive.”
