The Hunger Games (film)


 * This article is about the film. For other uses, see The Hunger Games (disambiguation).

"The world will be watching"

- Official tagline

The Hunger Games is the film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. It is directed by Gary Ross and was theatrically released on March 23, 2012.

Plot
The nation of Panem has risen out of the war, disaster and the ravaged ruins of what was once known as North America. 74 years ago, the thirteen poverty-stricken districts of Panem rebelled against the wealthy, controlling Capitol. After its crushing victory, the Capitol devised the Hunger Games as an annual reminder to the twelve remaining districts of its authority, and as continuing punishment for the rebellion. Every year, each District must hold a raffle (known as the "reaping") to choose one boy and one girl (ranging from age 12–18) to participate in the Hunger Games, a competition in which each of the twenty-four contestants (known as the "tributes") fight to the death in a televised arena until only one is left alive.

It soon shows a scene of District 12, with Prim screaming in the background while Katniss calms her down, mostly because Prim is terrified for the chances of her to be Reaped. Katniss then eases her to bed as she sings the lullaby.

She goes to the forest and finds a deer, as she nearly let go one of her arrows, the deer flees, and after crushing leaves in the air and throwing a rock, she gets the deer in place, only for it to have been petrified of Gale's voice. To make up for making Katniss lose the only deer she saw all year, he throws a stone to the trees, making a whole family of birds to fly, and Katniss shoots one of them. After this, a hovercraft appears noisily. They soon show a scene where Gale insists on running away.

Katniss goes to The Hob and traids her game in exchange of money and some food to Greasy Sae, and notices a mockingjay pin, and asks how much it costs, eventually, Greasy Sae says she could keep it. She goes home and finds Prim dressed while her mother says she laid out something for Katniss as well. Katniss then bathes and finds the clothes, reluctantly putting it on. After this, she gives the mockingjay pin to Prim, promising that nothing bad will happen as long as she has it.

They go to the Plaza and as they are about to go to the woman who checks their blood, Prim freaks out, and Katniss reassures her only a tiny prick will be needed and she will find Prim as soon as she could. District 12's escort, Effie Trinket, shows them a documentary about the Games and then picks a piece of paper out of the ladies' bowl, which is Primrose Everdeen. As Prim is about to be taken up the stage, Katniss volunteers for her immediately. Effie then picks a piece of paper from the boys' bowl and picks Peeta.

They are then taken inside the Justice Building in seperate rooms, and the first two visitors for Katniss was Prim and their mother. She makes Prim promise that she will not take extra tesserae, and Gale will bring them game while she will sell cheese from her goat. Prim gives her the mockingjay pin Katniss first gave her. Katniss then tells their mother that if she died, she must not leave Prim. Her next visitor was Gale and he tells her to make a bow and arrows or find one once she is in the Arena, Katniss makes him promise to not let Prim and Mrs Everdeen to starve. She and Peeta are then taken to the Capitol's fast train.

Before the 74th annual Hunger Games begin, she is given a stylist named Cinna and an eccentric Capitol escort named Effie Trinket to help her make a good impression with potential sponsors. The tributes get to live in a lavish Capitol building, where they are open to luxury. Haymitch Abernathy, a drunkard and the only victor from District 12, mentors Katniss and Peeta before and during the Hunger Games. Katniss has a recurring memory of Peeta giving her a half-burnt loaf of bread from the back of the bakery, at a time when her family had nothing to eat and was on the brink of starvation. Katniss realizes that she may have to kill Peeta in the arena, but feels that she must help him survive as long as she can. During a televised interview before the Games, Peeta states that he has secretly had a romantic interest in Katniss since childhood, leaving Katniss responding in anger. Haymitch comes up with the idea to have Katniss and Peeta act as a loving couple in the arena to get sympathy from the audience and gain sponsors. Haymitch also informs Katniss to resist the urge to run toward the weapons laid out for the tributes as soon as the games begin as it will only lead to bloodshed. He tells her instead to head to higher ground and search for water, as it will serve as her only friend during the games.

When the games begin, the majority of the tributes make a mad dash to the "Cornucopia," a depository of food and equipment, where twelve are instantaneously killed by the other tributes. After a tribute is killed, a loud cannon sounds to signal his or her death. Katniss flees into the forest and loses track of Peeta but not before picking up a backpack full of equipment. On the first night, Katniss hides in a tree and witnesses a tribute being killed by a gang of competitors (known as "Careers") led by Districts 1 and 2, which includes Peeta. When Katniss unwittingly walks towards the edge of the arena, she is turned back by a, which draws attention to her location. The Careers see Katniss and chase her until she finds herself holed-up in a tree. After several unsuccessful attempts to kill her, Peeta suggests that they wait her out, intending to give her a chance to escape. That night, Katniss is alerted to a beeping sound in the sky and sees a cylinder attached to a parachute coming towards her. She opens the cylinder and reads a message from Haymitch telling her to tend to her severely injured leg using a healing salve inside the cylinder. The next morning, she awakens to find that her injured leg had completely healed overnight. While the gang is still asleep, Katniss is alerted to Rue, the female tribute from District 11, who points out to her a nest of "tracker jackers," a genetically altered breed of wasps, the sting of which causes extreme pain, hallucinations and sometimes death. Katniss detaches the nest from the tree where it lands on the group below, killing Glimmer, the District 1 female tribute, giving Katniss access to her bow and arrows; however, Katniss has also been stung, hallucinates, and blacks out.

When Katniss awakens, she learns that Rue had nursed her for two days. They become allies and decide to conduct a raid on the Cornucopia to destroy the Career group's food supply. When Katniss successfully destroys their supply, she finds Rue trapped in a net and frees her. Rue is killed by Marvel, the District 1 tribute, who sprang the trap, and Katniss kills him in return. The televised death of Rue, the youngest competitor (in which Katniss covers her body with flowers and gives a salute to the camera), leads to an uprising in District 11. To sedate the rioting, the gamemaker, Seneca Crane, agrees with Haymitch to allow the survival of two players from the same district, in the belief that it will give the masses something to look forward to. Katniss meanwhile seeks out Peeta, severely wounded by a sword, and nurses him back to health, when he declares his love for her. It is announced that something each of the living tributes desperately needs has been left at the Cornucopia. Katniss sees this as a way to get Peeta the medicine he needs. Peeta argues, saying Katniss doesn't need to risk her life around the other tributes, for him, but Katniss insists she has to. When Peeta asks why, Katniss kisses him, but he still persuades her to stay. Even though she agreed to stay, Katniss sneaks to get the package when Peeta falls asleep. When recovering the medicine, she is nearly killed by Clove from District 2 but is saved by Thresh of District 11 as a sign of gratitude for helping Rue. Upon Peeta's recovery, he and Katniss go out scouting and discover the dead body of the girl from District 5, nicknamed Foxface, who ate "nightlock," a type of poisonous berry. Katniss and Peeta take the berries in the hopes of tricking District 2's Cato into eating them.

That night, carnivorous and aggressive wild animals known as a "muttations" or "mutts," are released into the arena to intensify the games, killing Thresh, making the only surviving players Katniss, Peeta, and Cato. Katniss and Peeta are chased by three Mutts to the Cornucopia, where they encounter Cato. After a brief but deadly fight, Cato holds Peeta by the neck, and Katniss notches an arrow at him. Cato confesses that he regrets the fact that his only skill in life is his ability to kill; nevertheless, he would not give up in honor of District 2. Katniss fires an arrow at Cato's hand, and he releases Peeta, falling to the animals below. As they devour him, Cato whispers, "Please," to Katniss, and she fires an arrow into his head to end his suffering. When Katniss and Peeta climb down from the Cornucopia, the voice over the loudspeaker declares that the rule change that allowed two players of the same district to survive has been revoked, and one of them must die. Unable to kill each other, Katniss come up with a plan to force the games to allow both to win. Knowing that failure to produce a definite winner would defeat the purpose of the games and increase the possibility of an uprising, Katniss convinces Peeta to feign an attempt at suicide by eating the nightlock berries. But before they can eat the berries, the announcer declares that Katniss and Peeta are the winners of 74th annual Hunger Games.

President Snow tells Seneca Crane to come to a special room escorted by Peacekeepers. In the room is a bowl filled with nightlock. Seneca realizes too late what is supposed to happen, and the doors are locked behind him, leaving him with no escape. Katniss and Peeta return home as heroes, but despite the declaration of two winners, a rebellion is continuing to take place. President Snow sees the celebration and is not pleased to have two victors of the Games.

Development
Lionsgate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is being produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company. Suzanne Collins initially adapted the novel for film herself, with rewrites by Billy Ray. However, the first draft of the script was replaced by one written by Collins and director Gary Ross. When asked for his thoughts on his script being replaced, Ray said, "I don't have any." From an initial $60 million, the budget for the film was increased to $75 million. then to $100 million.

On May 18, 2011, Entertainment Weekly revealed on their cover the first photo of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. The first teaser trailer was revealed during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Lawrence presented the teaser through a pre-recorded video, as she wasn't able to attend the event due to filming.

The official trailer was released on November 14, 2011.

Tributes

 * Jennifer Lawrence - Katniss Everdeen, the female tribute from District 12. Protagonist of the story.
 * Josh Hutcherson - Peeta Mellark, the male tribute from District 12 who is deeply in love with Katniss.
 * Jack Quaid - Marvel, the male tribute from District 1.
 * Leven Rambin - Glimmer, the female tribute from District 1.
 * Alexander Ludwig - Cato, the male tribute from District 2.
 * Isabelle Fuhrman - Clove, the female tribute from District 2.
 * Ian Nelson - the male tribute from District 3.
 * Kalia Prescott - the female tribute from District 3.
 * Ethan Jamieson - the male tribute from District 4.
 * Tara Macken - the female tribute from District 4.
 * Chris Mark - the male tribute from District 5.
 * Jacqueline Emerson - "Foxface", the cunning and sly female tribute from District 5.
 * Ashton Moio - the male tribute from District 6.
 * Kara Petersen - the female tribute from District 6.
 * Sam Ly - the male tribute from District 7.
 * Leigha Hancock - the female tribute from District 7.
 * Samuel Tan - the male tribute from District 8.
 * Mackenzie Lintz - the female tribute from District 8.
 * Imanol Yepez-Frias - the male tribute from District 9.
 * Annie Thurman - the female tribute from District 9.
 * Jeremy Marinas - the male tribute from District 10.
 * Dakota Hood - the female tribute from District 10.
 * Amandla Stenberg - Rue, Katniss' ally in the 74th Hunger Games, and female tribute from District 11.
 * Dayo Okeniyi - Thresh, the male tribute from District 11.

Other characters

 * Liam Hemsworth - Gale Hawthorne, best friend, tentative love interest and hunting partner of Katniss.
 * Willow Shields - Primrose Everdeen, the younger sister of Katniss.
 * Paula Malcomson - Mrs. Everdeen, Katniss and Prim's mother.
 * Elizabeth Banks - Effie Trinket, escort of District 12 tributes, Katniss and Peeta.
 * Wes Bentley - Seneca Crane, Head Gamemaker of the 74th Hunger Games.
 * Stanley Tucci - Caesar Flickerman, Interviewer for the Hunger Games.
 * Woody Harrelson - Haymitch Abernathy,now an alcoholic, former Hunger Games victor and Katniss and Peeta's mentor.
 * Latarsha Rose - Portia, Peeta's stylist and Cinna's partner.
 * Brooke Bundy - Octavia, member of Katniss' prep team.
 * Lenny Kravitz - Cinna, Katniss' stylist and Portia's partner.
 * Toby Jones - Claudius Templesmith, arena announcer for the games.
 * Amber Chaney - Lavinia, the redheaded Avox girl.
 * Kimiko Gelman - Venia, member of Katniss' prep team.
 * Nelson Ascencio - Flavius, member of Katniss' prep team.
 * Donald Sutherland - President Snow, the cruel and oppressive ruler of Panem.
 * Phillip Troy Linger - Mr. Everdeen, Katniss' father.
 * Karan Kendrick - Atala, head trainer at the Training Center.

Music
Universal Republic will release the film's official soundtrack, The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond. Danny Elfman and T Bone Burnett were originally meant to collaborate in composing the film's score but Elfman dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. James Newton Howard is set to fill in as the composer with Burnett also serving as the film's executive music producer.

Costume

 * Effie Trinket's reaping suit, described as spring green in the book, is magenta pink in the movie.
 * In the book, Katniss mentions in the Training Center that she and Peeta were the only ones wearing the same outfit, while in the movie, every tribute wears the same uniform with numbers on the shoulders to signify the district.
 * When Katniss and Peeta are talking on the roof in the book, she is said to be wearing a "...thick, fleecy nightgown...". Though in the movie, she is wearing a light jacket and a skirt.
 * In the book Katniss is wearing a dress for the tribute parade in the film she is not.
 * In the book it states that each tribute wears a black jacket, in the film each pair of tributes wears a different colored jacket to represent their district.
 * In Katniss' interview, she is supposed to be wearing a dress entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design, but in the film, she is wearing a more simple one shoulder red dress.

Motion poster
Motionposter

First theatrical trailer
The first full length trailer debuted on iTunes Trailers with a simulcast on ABC's Good Morning America. The trailer shows Katniss and Gale hunting in the District 12 woods as a hovercraft appears above them. It also shows Prim being reaped and Katniss volunteering to take her place. A quick shot of Katniss' travel to the Capitol is also seen. After their arrival, Katniss is shown on a bed where she is being prepared for the interviews by her prep team and Cinna, her stylist. The tributes from the other districts are shown preparing for the Games along with Katniss being introduced to the crowds by Caesar Flickerman. The scene where Katniss is lifted to the Arena platform is being televised all over Panem. The trailer concludes as the tributes run towards the Cornucopia. Rue's four note tone can be heard in the end.

 The Hunger Games Theatrical Trailer 1 mfmrPu43DF8

Second theatrical trailer
The trailer starts with Katniss giving Prim the mockingjay pin. President Snow greets the crowd and Effie draws Prim's name and Katniss volunteers. The trailer also put focus on Caesar Flickerman's interview with Katniss, the race to the Cournocopia and Katniss' and Peeta's talk. The trailer ends with Cinna showing Katniss the mockingjay pin attached to her suit before she is sent to the Arena. Rue's four note tone can be heard in the end.

 The Hunger Games Theatrical Trailer 2 qoUT7q2iTbQ

The Hunger Games Adventures
Lionsgate and developer Funtactix will collaborate for a web based social game for The Hunger Games.

The game will allow players to create their own avatars and embark on a Panem-wide adventure. While the players will not be able to enter the Arena in game, they will be able to see Katniss, Peeta and other District 12 characters in their game persona.

Reception
The Hunger Games sparked early good reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and compared Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Katniss to Ree Dolly, Lawrence's character from the Oscar-nominated film Winter's Bone. Peter Travers of The Rolling Stone said that the film "has epic spectacle, yearning romance, suspense that won't quit and a shining star in Jennifer Lawrence." Rex Reed of New York Observer found the film exhilarating and exciting.

In contrast, Richard Corliss of TIME Magazine said that the film is better at grim than gaudy, but not masterly at either. He, however, admired the actors portrayal of the characters like Effie. Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com said that the film is just an elementary fairy tale about a young girl's coming of age and an incipient romantic triangle.

Generally, the film has received an overall positive reviews with a 87% "Fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes with the site's consensus saying "Thrilling and superbly acted, The Hunger Games captures the dramatic violence, raw emotion, and ambitious scope of its source novel."

The film's $155 million opening weekend gross is the highest ever for the first movie in a franchise, and topped by only two sequels.

Sequel
A sequel for the film has been announced. Sources say 'Catching Fire' will be released November of 2013, if all goes according to schedule. There has been no new news on the making or release of 'Mockingjay' though it seems very reasonable to expect it the year following the release of 'Catching Fire'.