Unless you’ve been residing under a rock, you’ve probably heard of The Hunger Games. This YA trilogy turned blockbuster movie is stirring up more excitement every day. This series about the notorious Hunger Games, a cross between a reality TV show and Gladiator, already has a cult following so impressive that the impending movie was bound to stoke the fire.
And it has. Before production of the movie started, Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games trilogy had 9.6 million books in circulation; when the movie’s full-length trailer premiered, that number sky-rocketed to 16 million, and now there are 23.5 million books in print in the U.S.
Just one day before the movie’s highly anticipated launch, our staff is abuzz. We’ve made no secret that many of us are huge fans of The Hunger Games and have plans to see the movie this weekend. (One of us may have even bought tickets the first day they went on sale a month ago). So, we ask: What is it about The Hunger Games books that has made it such a worldwide sensation?
Here’s what we’ve come up with:
-Shock value
-Empathetic characters
-Complicated ideas told in a simple way
-Social commentary
-Unconventional love story (boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy might have to kill girl…)
-Life or death situation
-Story with a huge scope via an intimate point of view
Whether you’re a devoted Hunger Games-fanatic or just Hunger Games-curious, we hope you join us in the theaters to see if the movie lives up to the hype. And, of course, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Want to learn more about The Hunger Games: Read our review on Goodreads.
QUESTION: Will you be seeing the Hunger Games movie?
What great timing! I just started reading the book last night. I like the characters Katniss and Peeta and hope the movie does them justice. Maybe a Writer’s Relief book to movie comparison in the future?? 🙂
I was really skeptical about reading HG. I was like “I can’t do another Twilight.” But HG is the anti-twilight. And I don’t usually end up reading the books that everybody’s reading becuase well it feels like overkill, but HG really lived up to the hype.
Suzanne Collins did a fantastic job with the first book of the series (though, honestly, I think in books 2 and 3 there’s some potential for the movies to actlly be better than the books).
My friend’s getting tix today and we’re making a little party of it this weekend.
See you in the arena!
Perhaps once the buzz dies down, I’ll try to pick up one of the books; for now, I can only wish that the staff member who bought their ticket a month ago enjoys the movie 🙂
AHHHH this is pushing me to finish the book… Must. Conquer. Book. ADD.
Honestly the hype boils down to marketing, for the movie anyway. A good book turned movie backed by a aggressive pr team. By aggressive i mean buying E! to promote positive reviews (like the kardashians do) its a monkey see monkey do world and if you have t.v , twitter, fb and commercials all hyping Hunger Games BOUGHT by marketing, duh, common sense answers the rest!