Note to Hollywood: The Hunger Games trilogy is NOT the new Twilight.
I loved the first Hunger Games book, and I'm not alone. And I'm not alone in anticipating the movie adaptation. But the more information I read about the movie, the more I worry that I'm going to be extremely unhappy with the finished product. It was fun to speculate on the director and cast. (I always imagined Lenny Kravitz as Cinna!) Yet I think the movie is getting too much exposure from the media, especially Entertainment Weekly. They've already had two covers dedicated to The Hunger Games - and the movie is still shooting! Photos from the set have trickled out to mainstream websites. It's beginning to feel like overkill. I know the movie biz has changed; fans are more invested in certain properties starting at the pre-production stage. (I don't get why people were so up in arms about a brunette being cast as Peeta. Could you not watch the film if he didn't have blond hair?) Some of us want to be surprised when we walk into theater, not know every detail of the script, story, special effects. I want small glimpses and teases, and I think The Hunger Games production is borderline guilty of oversharing.
Now, all that will be forgiven if the movie turns out to be incredible. The producers just have to remember that Hunger Games is not Twilight. I'm get the feeling that they are pushing the Katniss-Gale-Peeta love triangle. To me, that was one of the weakest parts of the trilogy. This is a series about war and man's cruelty towards each other; it's not about what boy Katniss wants to date. I am dreading the day when I see girls wearing Team Gale or Teem Peeta shirts. I get it. Twilight has been a huge success. The Hunger Games appeals to a similar audience. Lionsgate (the studio behind the movie) wants to make boatloads of money. Ergo, Hollywood is viewing Hunger Games as the new Twilight. Romance was a natural element in Twilight; it was the crux of the story. But in The Hunger Games, it's a subplot. In the first book, it's hardly developed. I don't want the director to pander to the Twilight crowd. I want them to make a thrilling, suspensful, cunning movie.
Hollywood has an obsession with franchises and pre-sold concepts. (you did hear that they're releasing a movie based on the board game Battleship starring Rihanna, right?) Now that Harry Potter and Twilight are ending, all eyes are turning to The Hunger Games to be the next big thing. I don't want the movie to carry such lofty expectations. Just because it's garnering heaps of advanced press doesn't mean it will be a blockbuster. It may not reach the heights of those two. Will that automatically make it a bomb? And just because Harry Potter and Twilight split the last books into two parts doesn't mean Mockingjay deserves the same treatment. Those books were split just to milk more money out of the series. I don't think Mockingjay has enough material to warrant two films. Let's be honest: the first half dragged. I wonder how they will make an entire movie out of it.
Do you think The Hunger Games movie is getting too much exposure? And do you want them to beef up the romance part?
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I agree with a lot of this. I'm terrified about how it'll turn out because I'm like so many others--way invested in the story and how good it was reading it. I too want to leave something for the theaters, but I still clamor over ever thing I see--it's a love/hate. I did/do love the romantic element, though, but I'm a sucker for that anyways
ReplyDeleteI love the books, and that always makes me wary of seeing the film. I'll be trying hard to think of it as a completely different entity because I am absolutely sure they're going to do something to it that completely winds me up!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen as much regarding The Hunger Games. But it sounds like the production hasn't completed. With that being said, I'm hoping they don't go on too much of an overload. Poor Eragon suffered greatly due to not meeting expectations. I wouldn't want the same to happen to The Hunger Games.
ReplyDeleteThe studio behind it is Lionsgate. IT shall be a terrible movie that makes a lot of money because sheeple like the books.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much make it a policy not to see the movie if I loved the book. There are exceptions, like Harry Potter, but for the most part I generally end up disappointed.
ReplyDelete@Kelley - I feel your pain. I know I *can* avoid spoilers and leaks, but I can't stop myself. It's the same relationship I have with chocolate.
ReplyDelete@Sarah - I also have to remember that Hunger Games the book and the movie are two separate entities. I will make a concerted effort not to compare how the movie measures up to the book. Emphasis on try.
@Angela - I hope this doesn't turn into another Eragon, i.e. a bestseller book series that was turned into a bomb of a movie and will never get a sequel.
@Li - I kinda like seeing the movie after reading the book, because it's so rare when I'm in that position. Did you think the Harry Potter movies measured up to the book?
@Moffutt - To paraphrase George RR Martin, "B*tch, please." If Lionsgate can do a great job producing all those Tyler Perry films, then it will succeed with bringing the Hunger Games to the screen. Would you see it if Madea made a cameo?
To be honest, I havent heard much buzz about the movies at all. I must keep my head in the clouds too much (or buried in my MS:)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the love triangle thing. Yuck! The romance aspect of this book was so slim I hope they don't make it bigger than it was. I can think of very few movies that are better than the book.
ReplyDeleteThey are making a movie based on the Battleship game?! Wow! Sorry, I hadn't heard that one yet.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard too much buzz about the movie yet, but I'm sure they'll have more as it grows closer to release date. I'm still woefully behind in reading the books! But I hope they don't play up the love triangle. It worked for Twilight, but the majority of things shouldn't be like that.
I'm worried about that too. I don't get much time to browse the net for all the buzz on films, but I've been hearing about The Hunger Games.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog!
Hello new visitors! So even though I write about hearing too much about the Hunger Games movie, I may be in the minority. Maybe I am subsconciously seeking it out!
ReplyDelete@Jessie - I need to get my head out of Hunger Games and into my MS like you!
@Angie - I know of one movie in particular that outshines its source material. http://philipsiegelwrites.blogspot.com/2011/08/novel-film-blogfest-day-2.html
@Cherie - Oh, I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this fall/winter...
@Christine - Thanks for visiting, too!
I really hope they don't see it as the next Twilight. The Hunger Games is way more than the love triangle subplot. I still have hope that the movie will turn out good because I hear Suzanne is working closely with the director and giving him her input. I don't really mind the romance though. As an avid reader of YA I kind of expect it. Thanks for the comment on my blog!
ReplyDeleteI was absolutely enthralled with this book! The details through the 1st and 2nd book were fantastic. I wasn't very happy about the third book. I felt the whole plot was rushed and it should have slowed down and focused on the detail but overall it was one of the best books I've read in a while.
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