Mainstream Archery Craze Catching Fire with Second “Hunger Games” Movie
OutdoorHub Reporters 11.29.12
The pro-archery media trend set by Hollywood after the release of The Hunger Games and other films continues to gain traction across the country. Now, the trend has transcended the movie theater and is catching on in the real world. With the upcoming release of the second movie in The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, the interest in archery for newcomers likely won’t dim anytime soon.
Al Lizzio, manager of Queen’s Archery in New York City for almost 25 years, said that the interest in archery has always been there, but the first installment of The Hunger Games helped bring it out in people. “The movies spurred an interest, but the interest was there to begin with,” Lizzio told Hollywood.com. “I believe we all have an interest in archery in us. It’s basic to the human nature. It’s been my belief that everyone on the planet knows archery in some shape or form. It’s just that they don’t know where to experience it.”
The numbers certainly support the trend–membership in USA Archery has increased by 20 percent, bowhunting licenses are at an all-time high and archery lessons are the hot ticket at many ranges.
Most of the new-found enthusiasts are women. Lizzio has given 7,000 lessons since the release of the first movie in March 2012. Of the lessons offered on Groupon, 80 percent were purchased by women.
Many enthusiasts hold up the films’ dedication to an accurate portrayal of archery. To train The Hunger Games’ protagonist Katniss Everdeen, four-time American Olympic archer Khatuna Lorig (originally from the Republic of Georgia) was brought in to perfect actress Jennifer Lawrence’s posture, stance and to give her archery abilities a lifelike quality.
True to the trend, commentator Laura on a Hunger Games fan site said it was indeed the story and the guiding archer who inspired her to get back into bows. “Reading the books did make me start archery again, I had put it down since I was a kid. Watching her at the Olympics makes me want to get an Olympic recurve bow.”
Big news in the entertainment industry this week are the newly-released still photographs of Catching Fire from the filming of a water fight scene. Shot in Hawaii, the photographs appeared on Perez Hilton’s blog which also alluded to the scheduled release date of the film (November 22, 2013).
If the second movie is even just a little bit as exciting as the first, you can expect to see archery only gaining more and more supporters.
