R.I.P. PSH

And another one bites the dust.

So sad.

Philip Seymour Hoffman has passed away at age 46, of an apparent drug overdose. The Capote Academy Award winner was found dead in his New York City apartment earlier today.

The actor is survived by his reportedly estranged longtime girlfriend and their three young children.

Hoffman – who sought treatment for a heroin addiction last year – was in the midst of shooting The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 2.

Which begs the question: How far along was production on Katniss Everdeen’s final two-part story? If we non-readers of the books upon which these blockbusters are based learned anything from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, that’s that Hoffman’s Plutarch Heavensbee would be key to our heroine’s resolution.

I expect work on the Mockingjay movies will shut down (much like Fast & Furious 6’s was in the wake of Paul Walker’s untimely passing) while the powers that be, cast, and crew regroup, and that the part will be recast.

Photo: TheRepublic.com.

Update 1: Evidently, PSH had completed work on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, and he only had about a week to go on the latter.

The future of his new Showtime show Happyish is a bit more up in the air. As is that of Ezekiel Moss, a new project the actor was looking to direct, with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal as his leads.

Update 2: It is believed that Hunger Games producers will probably pull a Sopranos (the powers that be there had to channel the late Nancy Marchand after she passed between the second and third seasons of the show) and digitally recreate PSH to complete whatever needs completing of his part in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

The show must, and will, go on.