Last Friday, Lionsgate announced that Wes Bentley (There Be Dragons, Ghost Rider, American Beauty) had joined the cast of the Gary Ross (Pleasantville) directed big-screen adaptation of the first novel in Suzanne Collins’ best selling trilogy, The Hunger Games as Seneca Crane, the “Head Gamemaker” of the 74th Hunger Games.

Now, Lionsgate has announced that Stanley Tucci (Captain America: The First Avenger, Jack the Giant Killer) has joined the cast as Caesar Flickerman in the hotly anticipated big-screen adaptation. In the books, Flickerman is the smooth-talking host of the Hunger Games. Check out the press release below for all the details!

Official Press Release:

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.

The Hunger Games is slated to hit theaters on March 23rd, 2012.