He's sold Luke Skywalker's lightsaber for $240,000 and unloaded the Terminator 2 T-800 endoskeleton for $489,000, but those sci-fi artifacts pale next to auctioneer Joe Maddalena's latest venture: He plans to hawk the real-life village that served as the location of The Hunger Games' "District 12," and he's hoping to get at least $1.2 million.
North Carolina's deserted Henry River Mill Village, a 72-acre planned community built around the textile industry, was the humble on-screen home of Hunger Games heroine Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) in the hit film. When Maddalena spotted an online ad for the 22-building site placed by owner Wade Shepard, he visited the one-time ghost town.
"It was unbelievable," Maddalena told Wired by phone. "Hundreds of people were coming to this place from all over the world every day because they wanted a piece of The Hunger Games."
Maddalena, who envisions the town's potential as a Hunger Games-themed tourist attraction, hosts a televised tour of the 72-acre "District 12" property on his Hollywood Treasure show airing Tuesday at 10 p.m./9 p.m. Central on Syfy. Following the telecast, bids will be accepted through July 31 on Maddalena's Profiles in History website.
