By Lindsay Hawthorne

   The Hunger Games, a wildly popular book series, is now breaking its way into the box offices all over the U.S., and as of the midnight premiere on Thursday, March 22^nd, fans began streaming in to see it in theaters everywhere, even in IMAX.

     The Hunger Games craze began in 2008 when the first book in this unique trilogy was published. The story is told from the point of view of a sixteen year old girl, Katniss Everdeen, living in a post-apocalyptic North America in one of twelve “districts”. The districts are isolated communities controlled by “peacekeepers” sent from the Capitol, the center of their country, Panem.

   The Capitol rules over the districts and keeps the people of Katniss’s district and others poor and starving, while the people of the Capitol are fabulously rich and stupid. The Capitol’s oppressive reign includes many ways of keeping the districts in check, the worst being The Hunger Games, which are a televised event where one teenage boy and girl from each district are randomly selected and forced to compete to the death on live television. The Games are a mandatory viewing for all the citizens of Panem.

     The brutal nature of this concept puts some parents and grandparents off reading the books or having their children see the movie, which is rated PG-13, but the books bring a new perspective into the minds of young readers and their heavy story carries a weighty message.

    The strong, independent female lead is refreshing when compared to the last book/movie craze, which was the Twilight series. The Hunger Games does contain some romance drama, but the main focus of the books is the Games and the struggle of the districts to overcome the oppressive rule of the Capitol. The books deal with the issues of death, war, and deception heavily and do not shy away from them like other Young Adult books might, but they are still an easy read. From kids of the middle school age to adults, people are all reading these books eagerly, and most cannot put them down. 

    The first movie is definitely a success and did not disappoint fans, although it is always difficult for fans not to notice every deviation from their cherished books. It may have helped that the author, Suzanne Collins, co-wrote the screen play. Actress Jennifer Lawrence definitely fit the part of Katniss in the minds of the majority of fans.

     According to thehungergamesmovies.net, The Hunger Games has already beaten Twilight out in the amount of money it has made it’s opening weekend, which is over $100 million, much more than Twilight’s 70 million or even the first Harry Potter’s 90 million. Series tend to make more money with every sequel, but the Hunger Games just might beat out Breaking Dawn, the last Twilight movie. The Hunger Games is being shown at 270 IMAX theaters, where the first Twilight not shown at any. The Hunger Games has made more money at its opening night than any other nonsequel, 68.3 million dollars, just under Eclipse and surpassing The Dark Knight. It takes fifth place as the biggest opening day and single day money maker for Hollywood.

    Filming will start this summer or early fall for a movie of the second book of the trilogy, Catching Fire, and fans eagerly await it.