Didn't Love the Hunger Games Movie? Watch it again!!

In the space that was once North America, a new country has grown up, a country called Panem. Three quarters of a century ago this country went to war against itself. The people of the thirteen districts of Panem went to war against the Capitol, and the Capitol won the fight, but not before destroying District Thirteen, the District that once produced nuclear weapons. Now the government has total control over the people, who both live and die in the districts into which they are born.

Unless, of course, they are selected for the Hunger Games.

Once a year in the summer, the Capitol sends an escort into each of the remaining twelve districts in order to select one boy and one girl (between the ages of twelve and eighteen) to go into the Hunger Games, a vast arena in which the twenty-four "tributes" must fight to the death, because only one can be declared the victor.

The books are written from the point of view of Katniss Everdeen, the female tribute from District Twelve (the coal mining district, widely considered to be the least likely district to win the Hunger Games). The movie, however, will expose a different perspective, also following the lives of the people who are left behind, such as Katniss's mother and sister, and her best friend Gale.

Collins is quoted as saying "I feel like the book and the film are individual yet complementary pieces that enhance one another." (source) It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out. I, for one, am a bit nervous that there will be too little Arena action in the film adaptation of the story, and as always, I recommend that readers of this page read the books.

For those of you who are thinking "I can't get into that! I'm not into video games and that kind of stuff!" let me tell you: this isn't about video games. The Hunger Games is a series of dystopian novels by Suzanne Collins, not a video game!

Gary Ross, the director of The Hunger Games movie, started out as a screenwriter, according to Moviefone. He has had quite a fascinating life, starting with his experience at the University of Pennsylvania. He dropped out before he could finish, however, wanting to gain some real-world experience. He started out his career wanting to write novels, but Paramount hired him and he was hired as a screenwriter. His first scripts failed, however, but Ross persisted and finally penned Big, which was a blockbuster hit in 1988. (Fandango) Ross continued to write comedic scripts for several years, including Dave and Lassie.

In 1998 Gary Ross began his directing career with Pleasantville, strengthening his resume of political movies. He did begin producing, however, the previous year. Since then Ross has produced a movie every few years, culminating with his directing The Hunger Games movie.

Some readers might be surprised to learn that Suzanne Collins worked on the screenplay for The Hunger Games movie along with Gary Ross, but as it happens, she's been working on screenwriting for most of her career, writing scripts for children's television shows on Nickelodeon for shows such as Oswald and Wow, Wow, Wubzy! Later she wrote The Underland Chronicles, a five part fantasy series for children. Most recently she penned the wildly popular Hunger Games series. She worked on the script with director Gary Ross.

Fans of the book series have already noticed some differences between the books and the upcoming movie, however, such as the absence of Madge Undersee, the mayor's daughter and Katniss's friend who gives her the Mockingjay pin in The Hunger Games. Obviously some changes needed to be made in order to make the film work, and Collins explained some of this recently with regard to the fact that the movie will in some ways be more dynamic than the books, following the lives of the people back at home in the districts.

I'm up in the air as to whether or not these changes are a good thing, but right now the film is getting outstanding reviews on IMDb!