Production
- The film started off with an initial budget of $75 million,however the final budget was reported to be between $90 and $100 million, which was then reduced to $78 million after subsidies.
- The movie was shot on film as opposed to digital due (in part) to the tightness of the schedule; as Ross (director) said in a interview with the New York Times, "I didn’t want to run the risk of the technical issues that often come with shooting digitally — we simply couldn’t afford any delays.
- Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights in March 2009 with Nina Jacobson's production company Color Force
- Collins (author) adapted the novel for film herself, and her script was revised by screenwriter Billy Ray.
- Gary Ross became the director in November 2010
- In the United States, the movie was granted a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA) for "intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens".
- · The film has been rated 12A by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in the UK for "intense threat, moderate violence and occasional gory moments". To achieve that rating, Lionsgate had to cut or substitute seven seconds of film by "digitally removing blood splashes and the sight of blood on wounds and weapons.
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| Gary Ross- Director |
Marketing
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A Twitter account was created for The Capitol, referencing the central city in the story. According to Forbes, the account @TheCapitolPN acted as a "welcoming site to Panem, the Capitol, and its 12 Districts."
- Often tweeting stories, warnings and encouragement in character.
"Hunger Games" have been mentioned about 1 million times just in the last month on Twitter, according to real-time tracking site Topsy.
- The Tumblr site Capitol Couture was created to blog the style of characters in the film, as well as inspirational designs. There's even a guide for what to wear to a fictional Hunger Games.
- The film and television check-in app GetGlue offered stickers for the 13 districts, characters and opening weekend. Stickers are unlocked by checking-on opening weekend.
- The Hunger Games is one of those rarities now referred to as a “four-quadrant” film: a motion picture destined to appeal to women aged 25 and over, women under 25, men 25 and over, and men under 25. It is first and foremost a great story about survival and rebellion featuring young characters (appealing to the under-25 crowd). It features thrilling action (male audience appeal), a love triangle (female audience appeal) and a fascinating and enthralling plot that transports audiences to another world (broad over-25 appeal). Lionsgate recognized areas of crossover and then fine-tuned certain initiatives to each of those four quadrants.
Distribution
The distribution company for The Hunger Games is LIONSGATE. Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution. New channel platforms and international distribution and sales. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as the multiple Emmy Award-winning "Mad Men", "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" along with the comedy "Blue Mountain State,"
Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent successes as THE LINCOLN LAWYER, TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S BIG HAPPY FAMILY, THE LAST EXORCISM and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which won two Academy Awards®. With the January 2012 acquisition of Summit Entertainment, the Comany now has the two leading young adult franchises - the blockbuster TWILIGHT SAGA, which has grossed more than $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office, and the HUNGER GAMES franchise, whose first film will be released on March 23.
Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 13,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.
Consumption
- The hunger games was shown mainly in 2D cinema’s- all multiplex cinema’s seeing as though it was a huge blockbuster film. Although it did not have a budget as big as most other blockbuster films, it was a long awaited film which had a lot of speculation and there were high expectations for it to do well in the box office.
- It was also shown in very few IMAX theatre’s to gain a 3D experience. This was not widely available in many countries.
- The U.S premiere was at midnight. The film made $19.7 million overnight to make it the highest-grossing midnight opener ever for a non-sequel.
- It made $15 million from pre-ordered tickets.
- Overall, it made $155 million in the opening weekend worldwide and at the midnight screening.
- As the film is still in the cinema, I cannot state what its overall takings were however it has already topped many records.
