10 Things You Didn’t Know: The Hunger Games

As the ‘summer blockbuster’ period beckons, we’re all eagerly anticipating the release of movies such as The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. Thankfully, The Hunger Games – with its release on the March 22 – is here to tide us through our agonizing wait. In the same spirit of hungry anticipation, Jessie Koh dedicates the first installment of ’10 Things’ to this film adaptation of the well-loved book trilogy.

Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t read the books, do note that some of the below points discuss plot details!

1. Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games) was actually a television scriptwriter by trade before venturing into writing novels – it is no wonder that the books are so perfect for a film adaptation. 2. Liam Hemsworth, who plays Gale in the movie, is the younger brother of Chris Hemsworth – who will be starring in The Avengersas Thor. With these high profile roles, it’s likely that we’ll be seeing a lot more of the two Hemsworth brothers in Hollywood! 3. In the March 9 issue of Entertainment Weekly, it was revealed that some aspects of the book did not make the cut to the big screen – Madge will not make an appearance, there will not be any focus on the Avoxes and the prep team (consisting of Octavia, Flavius and Venia) and Capitol gadgets such as the food automators will not be shown. 4. However, the film will be adding in scenes of places like the Hunger Games control room and President Snow’s rose garden – so we do have new things beyond the book to look forward to in the film! 5. Celebrity fans of The Hunger Games include Kristen Bell, Emily Blunt, Abigail Breslin, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift (who contributed to the soundtrack, including the song ‘Safe and Sound’) and Robert Pattinson, with many tweeting their love for the books. 6. During the filming of the movie, the woods in which they filmed had over 300 bears living there that came out daily at the slightest scent of food. 7. Alexander Ludwig, who will be playing the career tribute from District 2, Cato, initially auditioned for the role of Peeta. 8. No cross-over allowed with Twilight: Kellan Lutz, who plays Emmett in the Twilight trilogy, revealed that he was firmly told that there could not be any cross-over between the two franchises when he enquired about a role in the film. Looks like fans that love both franchises will have to be disappointed! 9. The Hunger Games has set a record in advance ticket sales in the United States, accounting for 83% of Fandango’s (movie ticket purchase service) site total on the day they went on sale, breaking the previous record set by The Twilight Sage: Eclipse. 10. The sequel, Catching Fire, already has a tentative release date of November 22, 2013.	Liam and Chris Hemsworth
	President Snow’s rose garden
	Taylor Swift in the ‘Safe and Sound’ music video
	Alexander Ludwig (Cato), Amandla Stenberg (Rue), and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta)

The writer is a Year 1 Sociology major, and is usually in front of the computer watching TV shows and movies, seeking out new bands to listen to, or slowly plodding though the Assassin’s Creed series. Contact the writer at jessiekohsijie@gmail.com.