The Hunger Games

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About

The Hunger Games is a series of young adult science fiction novels written by American writer Suzanne Collins which tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world where an annual event known as "The Hunger Games" forces teenagers to battle each other to the death on television. A film based on the novel was released on March 23rd, 2012.

History

The Hunger Games was written by the American writer Suzanne Collins and first published in hardcover by Scholastic on September 14th, 2008. It has since been released in paperback and also as an audiobook and e-book.

The Premise

In the novel, the "Hunger Games" refers to a conscription-based survival competition which annually takes place in the fictitious nation of Panem, the main setting for the trilogy. The gruesome game was devised by the stakeholders of The Capitol, the seat of Panem's totalitarian dictatorship, to punish its subjects for taking up a rebellion and deter any future uprising.

Film Adaptations

In March 2009, Nina Jacobson's production company Color Force and Lions Gate Entertainment agreed to co-produce a film adaptation of The Hunger Games with a budget of $88,000,000 under the helm of director Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins as the co-producer. The production began in late spring 2011, after casting the then 20-year-old actress Jennifer Lawrence for the female protagonist role of Katniss Everdeen, as well as Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth in the roles of Peeta and Gale, and the film was released on March 23rd, 2012.

Months prior to the release of the first flim, a plan for a sequel film adaptation of Collins' second novel Catching Fire to be directed by Gary Ross was green-lit by Lionsgate. By July 2012, several new additions to the cast had been announced, including Jena Malone as Johanna Mason, Amanda Plummer as Wiress and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee. The production officially began in September that year and the sequel was released in November 2013.

Reception

The Novel

After an initial print of 200,000 copies, the book had sold 800,000 copies by February 2010. Since its release, The Hunger Games has been translated into 26 languages and publishing rights have been sold in 38 territories. The novel is the first in The Hunger Games trilogy, which was followed by the publication of its sequels Catching Fire in 2009 and Mockingjay in 2010.

The Film

Upon its release in March 2012, the film was met by huge success in the box office and critical acclaim, bringing in $152.5 million (USD) during the opening weekend in North America. Overall, the film earned a total revenue of $686,533,290 worldwide.

Criticisms

Despite the critical acclaims of the novel and the film, The Hunger Games has drawn criticisms for its thematic similarities to Koushun Takami's 1999 novel Battle Royale, an alternative history thriller story about a group of junior high school students who are sent to an uninhabited island by the authoritarian Japanese government to fight each other to the death.

Fandom

Due to its popularity among teenagers and young adults, The Hunger Games commands an extensive presence in the social media, including dozens of single topic Tumblr blogs centered around the Hunger Games universe, some of the most notable examples being Fuck Yeah The Hunger Games^[5], Hunger Games Meme^[6], Hunger Games Problems^[7], Hunger Games Tweets^[8] and Just Hunger Games Things.^[9] In addition, the official Facebook page run by Scholastics has garnered more than 4.8 million likes and there is a Facebook community titled "The Hunger Games Memes"^[11] with 61,300 likes, as of November 2013.

Image Macros

Advice Peeta

Advice Peeta is an image macro series featuring photos of the character Peeta (played by Josh Hutcherson) and puns relating to baking bread, which is the character’s main talent in the story.

That is Mahogany

"That is Mahogany!" is a catchphrase that was originally quoted in the 2012 film adaptation of the young adult novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Mahogany is a type of tropical hardwood with a reddish-brown color that is commonly used in furniture-making and boat building.