The World of ‘Hunger Games’

Since its release in 2008, “The Hunger Games” has become one of the most popular book and movie series. What started as a three-book series quickly grew into a movie franchise. The second book was released in 2009, followed by the third in 2010. Filming for the first movie began in May 2011, and it hit theaters in March 2012. Since then, two additional books and four more movies have been released, with another movie set to release this November. Almost 20 years after the first book was published, fans are still excited to return to the world of Panem.

The fifth book, “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping”, was released in March 2025 and sold over 1.5 million copies in its first week worldwide, making it the biggest first-week launch of any Hunger Games book at that time. Following the success of the book, filming began just a couple months later in July. The movie is set to release on Nov. 20. 

“I am so excited for the new movie, I am counting down the days until I can see it in theaters,” junior Alyssa Chase said. 

The Hunger Games is based in a dystopian society where 12 districts each send two tributes, a boy and a girl, to fight to the death in an arena against the other tributes. The tributes are chosen from children the ages 12-18 years old. The games serve as a punishment for past rebellion against the capital. The capital is the government in this dystopian world. Some people are manipulated to believe that what the capital is doing is good, and then the games are a good form of entertainment. But others can see past that, and see that what the capitol is doing is out of fear that they one day would be overthrown. 

Every year the tributes are chosen at the annual reaping. In the first movie, at the reaping, the main character Katniss’ sister Primrose is chosen to compete as the female tribute. Katniss knew that her sister would never win the games and decided to volunteer for her instead. The male tribute was chosen to be Peeta Mellark. 

The beginning of the first book follows them through the process leading up to the games and through the process of their battle in the arena. The next three movies after that continue to follow their story as they make their way through a rebellion in an attempt to stop the madness of the capital. This story shows how the Capitol uses its power to control the districts and how Katniss and Peeta begin to challenge the way things have always been done.

“The biggest message is that power can change people and that not everything you see or hear is always the truth,” junior Maggie Herberger said. 

In 2023, the most recent movie in the series was released as a prequel to the previous four movies. “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” follows President Snow when he was 18 years old and attending the Academy in the Capitol. The movie follows Snow as he is assigned to mentor a girl named Lucy Gray Baird from District 12 during the 10th annual Hunger Games. As Snow grows closer to Lucy Gray, he is faced with a dilemma between following his heart and his head. He begins to see a side of the games that he has never known before, but he struggles to look past everything he has been taught throughout his life. 

“My favorite movie so far is ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ because I liked seeing how President Snow became the man he did in the previous films,” Chase said. 

Due to the success of the first films, there are high hopes for the newest movie. The sixth movie, “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping”, has been a highly anticipated movie throughout the year. 

The film follows the character Haymitch Abernathy, who is Katniss’ mentor during her times in the games. Haymich participated in the 50th games, which was a special type of game called the Quarter Quell. There is a Quarter Quell every 25 years and each time the games have a special twist. For the 2nd Quarter Quell (the 50th game), there are double the tributes. With the release of “Hunger Games, Sunrise on the Reaping” getting closer, fans are excited to return to Panem and learn more about characters they already know. The continued popularity of the series shows how much fans still enjoy “The Hunger Games”.