THE HUNGER GAMES will surely do big business on opening weekend when the book’s fans rush to witness post-apocalyptic heroine Katniss shoot fellow teens full of arrows, but the overall success of the movie could simply come down to how Lionsgate markets it to those beyond the core “young adult” audience.
With the movie hitting screens in just a couple of months, we should expect the studio to start seriously pushing that high concept on mainstream anti-TWILIGHT moviegoers who want thrills and pretty faces. There were hints in the teaser trailer and there will definitely be more focus on the broad appeal to come (Super Bowl night, perhaps?), but for now here’s another look at Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss (and her Capitol escort), Lenny Kravitz’s fashion guy Cinna, and Woody Harrelson’s rather Cobain-looking Haymitch.
The synopsis: “”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.”