What exactly is 'The Hunger Games'?

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

"The Hunger Games" gives us a heroine named Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and her longtime pal Gale (Liam Hemsworth).Suzanne Collins is the mastermind behind "The Hunger Games" trilogyThe plot revolves around a dystopian societyOne boy and one girl must fight to the death until only one is left standingEditor's note: Amber James is an editor at Celebuzz.com

(CNN) -- Forget "Harry Potter" and "Twilight." In a few months, "The Hunger Games" phenomenon will be taking over the pop culture world.

Although it will be feeding off the tween demographic, this franchise will chew up those other guys and spit them out.

But what exactly is this "Hunger Games" wonder that has so many folks talking months before the movie (which just wrapped up filming earlier this month) is even released? Like many of the wildly successful film franchises these days, it began with a book.

Suzanne Collins is the mastermind behind "The Hunger Games" trilogy, which has been gaining momentum over the last few months for both its suspenseful plot and overarching message about society.

The plot revolves around a dystopian society where punishment for a previous rebellion has resulted in a televised event. One boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district (there are 12 total) are selected at random and forced to participate in the Hunger Games, where "tributes" must fight to the death until only one is left standing.

"The Hunger Games" gives us a heroine named Katniss, a strong-willed and unwavering spirit, who volunteers for the games in order to spare her younger sister. Once inside the death match arena, she must get down and dirty to outlive her competitors, but there's one slight problem.

Her hot friend Peeta gets cast into the games, too. In the midst of all the slaying, Katniss finds herself embroiled in a love triangle with her longtime pal Gale, who is watching the games from his home, and Peeta, who confesses his love for her inside the arena. Katniss' emotional turmoil of love or death makes Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" look like child's play.

Apparently, Collins' twisted plot came to her one night while she was channel surfing between a competition reality show and a news program about the Iraq war. She blended the two shows and "The Hunger Games" was born.

The first film of the franchise is slated for release on March 23, 2012, while the second film is already booked for November 2013. Fans can only hope director Gary Ross doesn't soften the book, because the twists and turns will make for an edge-of-your-seat thriller. At this rate, the film is set to have more passion than "Twilight" and more action than "Harry Potter."

The film has already faced some controversy.

When Lionsgate announced that Jennifer Lawrence had been cast to play Katniss, both fans and critics questioned the choice, believing she was too old, too blond and too pretty to play a ruthless warrior. However, if her success in "Winter's Bone" and "X-Men: First Class" is any indication of her range, Lawrence has the potential to nail this role and pave the way for kick-butt female heroines.

The movie's lead male stars will likely rise to instant fame, just as Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner did with "Twilight." The relatively unknown actors Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) and Liam Hemsworth (Gale) will provide plenty of eye candy for the film. Other stars on the bill include Woody Harrelson (Haymitch), Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman) and Lenny Kravitz (Cinna).

The film was originally meant to be low budget, however the hype has pushed the movie to a nearly $100-million production, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The cast and crew wrapped filming earlier this month after an 84-day shoot, and a recently released teaser trailer has given fans a taste of what's to come. The hype may have escalated the budget, but the film may still exceed all expectations -- and be one lucrative franchise that reaches audiences of all ages.

Now, with only a few months until the first film's release, you still have plenty of time to pick up the book if you haven't read it. But be warned, once you finish the addictive read, you'll probably hunger for more.

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'Hunger Games' inspires everyday style

"How-to-dress like Katniss" web pages, blog posts and articles are being bookmarked and pinned up by girls of all ages.Katniss Everdeen of "Hunger Games" has made a huge style splash on the webAn InStyle editor says that the popularity of Katniss' style stems from its adaptabilityThe movie costume designer says one of the key aspects to Katniss' look is the practicality

(CNN) -- A single braid down the back, a light hunting jacket, a pair of sturdy leather shoes and a small golden pin; not exactly a culmination of things you would call fashionable.

But these are the key accessories to one of the hottest new characters to hit the big screen: Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss, the arrow-slinging, tribute-hunting teenager from the upcoming movie "The Hunger Games," based on Suzanne Collins' bestselling book, has made a huge style splash on the Web. Dozens of "how-to-dress like Katniss" web pages, blog posts and articles are being bookmarked and pinned up by girls of all ages. But when did hunting gear and cotton dresses become so fashionable?

For the same reason the little black dress from Audrey Hepburn's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is still a staple today: It's not just the look that audiences are responding to, but what that character represents, explains Teen Vogue's News Fashion Editor, Jane Keltner de Valle.

In the case of Katniss, "Hunger Games" costume designer Judianna Makovsky kept in mind that the character's style had to tell the story of a distinctively strong young woman who doesn't yet know her own strength.

After all, Makovsky says, Katniss is a character who's "just trying to survive."

So when she created those costumes, she looked to the past for inspiration, creating items for Katniss' home of District Twelve by incorporating themes from the Great Depression.

As a result, "Katniss has practical clothes -- it has to make sense where she got them," Makovsky says. "District 12 is American work wear, and that is what she would wear while she hunted."

Katniss isn't the only recent movie character to rev up the fashion scene.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's" Lisbeth Salander enthralled viewers with her distinctive punk style, and even "Twilight's" Bella Swan gained fashion popularity with her simple wedding dress seen in "Breaking Dawn" and Northern Pacific coast fashion.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's" dark urban look was recreated for consumers by Swedish retailer H&M, which released a limited edition Lisbeth Salander-inspired line, featuring key leather pieces, torn and worn shirts and hoodies, all tied together with an industrial color scheme.

One Los Angeles store sold out of the line in 10 minutes after the line went on sale, according to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's" costume designer, Trish Summerville, who worked in conjunction with H&M to create the line.

Teen Vogue's Keltner de Valle also notes how that theme resonated on the runway during the fall fashion season in 2011. "For so long, designers were collaborating with mass retailers, [but] a new trend could be costume designers collaborating with mass retailers to create [a] character-inspired wardrobe. It almost seems like a no-brainer."

And yet, while Summerville created a character-inspired line with Lisbeth Salander, Makovsky said that's currently not her intention.

"I didn't want the fashion to take over, [because] that is not what the movie is about," she said. "The movie is about a girl's journey. That is what a costume designer does, we tell the character's story."

Whether the clothing ends up being crafted specifically for fans or not, it's always that story told through a character's costume that the consumers cling to. To dress like Katniss, in some regard, is to adopt her trademark characteristics, and the popularity of her clothing points to a characterization that's hit home.

"There was a time when being powerful and being pretty were mutually exclusive, and these strong female archetypes are becoming really popular and girls are really responding to that," says Keltner de Valle.

InStyle.com entertainment editor Bronwyn Barnes agrees, positing out that the look and feel of characters like Katniss and Lisbeth are so appealing to audiences because these characters are in charge of their own destinies.

"I think these characters struck the right time in pop culture," Barnes said. "People are looking for the modern day heroine."

And to dress like one, too.

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'Hunger Games': From the shelf to big screen

Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games," Gary Ross' film version of the popular Suzanne Collins novel."The Hunger Games" is on track to rake in more than $80 million opening weekend, reports sayDirector: "I'm a fan first. ... I didn't have any desire to rework (the story) in any major way"Casting the right actors is imperative when adapting a novel for the screen, critic says

(CNN) -- Adapting a beloved novel for the big screen often guarantees a solid showing at the box office. "The Hunger Games" looks to be no exception.

Based on Suzanne Collins' young adult novel, the movie is on track to rake in more than $80 million its opening weekend, reports say.

But existing story lines, settings and dynamic characters are often accompanied by moviegoers' idealistic expectations, leaving screenwriters to ponder: How do you honor the novel and please readers without compromising the film?

Luckily for fans, "Hunger Games" screenwriter and director Gary Ross said he found a way.

"I still want to go to that movie the same way everybody else does. I want to see aspects of the novel preserved," Ross told CNN. "I'm a fan first. ... I loved the book so much. I didn't have any desire to rework (it) in any major way."

However, Ross said certain aspects of "The Hunger Games" just don't translate cinematically.

Those who have read the books, told from 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen's perspective, already know why.

"The Hunger Games" takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, in the fictional nation of Panem. Every year, one boy and one girl "tribute" are randomly selected from the nation's 12 districts to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death.

Wealthy Capitol citizens called Gamemakers manipulate the Hunger Games. Though they only briefly appear in the novel, their presence is felt by Katniss, a District 12 tribute, throughout the Games.

"I can't shoot inside Katniss' head," Ross said. "In the book, she speculates about what the Gamemakers are doing. Well, we created a whole (visual) world that the (Gamemakers) are in."

There may be departures in the adaptation process, Ross added, but in the grand scheme of things, the movie is faithful to the novel.

Dayo Okeniyi, who plays Thresh, a tribute from District 11, also stressed the importance of honoring Collins' novel at a recent movie premiere.

"If we deviate much, there are fans out there who will stalk me and kill me," Okeniyi joked. "(The fans) don't ask for much. At the same time they watch everything ... 'Oh, she's supposed to be looking at the right, not the left' -- little details."

While sticking to the novel might keep fans of the book series happy, telling the story scene by scene would yield a long, drawn-out cinematic experience, said Thelma Adams, a contributing editor at Yahoo! Movies.

"You've got to be willing to cut," she said. "Find out which characters are central and which aren't. Which relationships are central and which aren't."

Adams said "Hunger Games" screenwriters Ross, Collins and Billy Ray were smart to streamline a few characters, while pushing others into larger roles, such as head Gamemaker Seneca Crane.

Casting the right actors is imperative when adapting a novel for the big screen, she said, adding that Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson are "pitch perfect" for their roles as Katniss, Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark, respectively.

"You can't say that about every (role)," she said. "You can't say that 'Twilight's' Peter Facinelli -- he's the only one who could have played (Carlisle Cullen.) He's not."

Let's not forget how angry "Twilight" fans were when brunette Nikki Reed was first cast as Rosalie Cullen.

It's no secret fans want popular characters to look a certain way, specifically how they envisioned them while they were reading the book.

"Reading is a really intimate, internal experience, where you play your own movie in your head," screenwriter Will Fetters said.

Fetters, who adapted Nicholas Sparks' "The Lucky One," which hits theaters in April, said, it helps when a book already reads like it was constructed for film. "The Hunger Games" is one of those books.

Despite the intense, made-for-the-big-screen action sequences in "Games," Ross said there was plenty to be concerned about when adapting it for the screen.

"A lot of the action stuff, you know that's hard work, and you know you're going to get it," Ross said. "But it's really the delicate stuff. ... It's those intangible things you really have to capture: Katniss' character, her relationship with Rue, her relationship with her sister. ... It's that kind of stuff that's very difficult."

Collins, who had a hand in the screenwriting process, took to her Facebook page to share her thoughts on the adaptation of her novel: "I feel like the book and the film are individual yet complementary pieces that enhance one another."

Which is how it should be, Fetters said.

"When going to an adaptation, you're going understanding that it's not going to be the exact images you saw," he added. "We're all working under constraints to interpret what we saw in our heads and hope that it's the same thing readers saw."

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'Hunger Games' sets records

Monday, March 26, 2012

Only "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" and "The Dark Knight" -- both sequels-- recorded bigger opening weekends than "Hunger Games."The movie sets a record for the biggest March opening everThe only two films with bigger opening weekends were both sequels"The Hunger Games" is based on the first book in a young-adult trilogyThe sequel, "Catching Fire," will be released in November 2013

(CNN) -- The appetite for "The Hunger Games" was even more voracious than experts predicted.

The Lionsgate movie based on the best-selling young-adult novel raked in an estimated $155 million in its opening weekend, according to the studio, giving it the third-best debut in North American box office history.

Only "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" and "The Dark Knight" -- both sequels, with the strength of a franchise behind each -- recorded bigger opening weekends.

The massive total for "Hunger Games" more than doubles the opening weekend of the first film in the "Twilight" franchise, another set of films that sprang from a young-adult series.

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth star in the dystopian fantasy, based on the first book in the Suzanne Collins trilogy about a future society in which teenagers are forced to battle to the death.

The $155 million estimate was reported by Exhibitor Relations Co., which compiles the box office totals tallied by studios. Final weekend numbers will be available Monday.

Experts had initially projected a $100 million opening for "Hunger Games," then revised their guesses as high as $140 million as fan fever soared, fueled by the books' success and a canny marketing campaign.

The weekend's $155 million easily gives "The Hunger Games" the record for the biggest March opening ever, besting the $116 million debut of "Alice in Wonderland" in 2010, and shows a blockbuster release is not limited to the summer and holiday seasons, as long presumed.

"Hunger Games" is already the highest-grossing movie in the history of Lionsgate, which has announced the sequel, "Catching Fire," will be released November 22, 2013.

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