The Hunger Games Star Stanley Tucci Explains Why the Mockingjay Movie is Split in Two

Stanley Tucci, more popularly known as Caesar Flickerman in "The Hunger Games" franchise, recently revealed in an interview why the "Mockingjay" film was split in two, giving way to part 1 and part 2 set for release on different dates.

In an interview with IGN, the 53-year-old "Hunger Games" host revealed why it is only fitting to split the "Mockingjay" film into two movies.

"The Hunger Games: Mockingay," starring Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), would have been the third and last installment of the movie adaptation of Suzanne Collin's trilogy. The producers, however, decided to split the movie in two, which brings fans wondering whether the move is only to prolong the franchise or if the decision applies because the movie is already being too crammed with many scenes from the third book.

"I think it does make sense to split it into two movies," Stanley Tucci told IGN. "You don't want to cram a lot of information into one. You'd either have one sort of very long movie or...We know those characters so well that we want to take the time to see their progression."

Others may see the splitting of the movie a move that copies the "Harry Potter" or the "Twilight" franchise, both based on young adult books, after breaking both its last book into two parts. To Tucci, however, breaking the "Mockingjay" film into two parts seems to have worked.

Stanley Tucci told MTV that in both "Mockingjay" films, his exposure is going to be less, though the actor shared that both movies are "great." Tucci also revealed that he had fun working on his character, which "The Hunger Games" fans are very familiar with since Tucci's character, Caesar Flickerman, is always the first to start the famous Capitol game with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) playing in it, while Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) waits in District 12.

"Those are great people, and it's such a fun character. So much fun," Stanley Tucci told MTV. "I got to know Woody Harrelson [Haymitch Abernathy], who I adore. Josh and Jennifer, of course. The loveliest people. Lovely people."

Aside from reprising his role as Caesar Flickerman in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1," which is set for a November 2014 release, Stanley Tucci also appears in "Transformers: Age of Extinction" as a rich inventor.