Though I haven’t finished the books yet, I’m pretty close and it’s getting easier to visualize this as a four movie run that Lionsgate is intending to do it as. The first movie is set to be released in March 2012 and the first clip (not a trailer) has landed courtesy of the MTV Video Awards last night. This one lets us see a bit of the Games themselves as filming is done in North Carolina to replicate part of the arena. It may not be much, and may spend too many seconds just showing us trees, but it’s hitting a lot of the right notes from the start and should build a lot of enthusiasm once the real mass marketing hits next year.
Plot Concept: Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.
Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
