The Hunger Games(2012)

2h 22m

Release Date: Mar 23, 2012 | Wide

Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Mar 23, 2012

2023 Re-release (Fathom Entertainment) | Oct 15, 2023

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Box Office Results

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$408,010,692
Total International
$287,209,927
Total Worldwide:
$695,220,619

Total US & Canada:
$408,010,692
Total International
$286,384,032
Total Worldwide:
$694,394,724

Current Showtimes

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Director & Top Cast

Gary Ross
Director

Jennifer Lawrence
Katniss Everdeen

Josh Hutcherson
Peeta Mellark

Liam Hemsworth
Gale Hawthorne

Stanley Tucci
Caesar Flickerman

Wes Bentley
Seneca Crane

Willow Shields

Primrose Everdeen

Elizabeth Banks

Effie Trinket

Sandra Ellis Lafferty

Hob Vendor

Paula Malcomson

Katniss' Mother

Rhoda Griffis

Registration Woman

Sandino Moya-Smith

Propaganda Film Tribute

Raiko Bowman

Peeta's Mother

Dwayne Boyd

Peacekeeper #1

Anthony Reynolds

Peacekeeper #2

Judd Lormand

Peacekeeper #3

Woody Harrelson

Haymitch Abernathy

Toby Jones

Claudius Templesmith

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital,Datasat,SDDS,Dolby Surround 7.1,Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, consists of a wealthy Capitol and twelve poorer surrounding districts. As a punishment for a past rebellion, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by lottery (the "Reaping") to participate in the annual Hunger Games. The participants (or "tributes") must fight to the death in an arena; the sole survivor is rewarded with fame and wealth. In her very first Reaping, 12-year-old Primrose Everdeen is selected from District 12. Her older sister Katniss volunteers (Jennifer Lawrence) to take her place. Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), a baker's son who once gave Katniss bread when she was starving, is the other District 12 tribute. Katniss's boyfriend Gail feels strongly about the slaughter in the games & believes that if people stop watching, the Games will die naturally.Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where their drunken mentor, past victor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), advises them. He warns them about the "Careers" from Districts 1 and 2 who have trained intensively at special academies for the Games and who almost always win. He also says that minor objects in the game can mean the difference between life and death. Objects like food, water, fire can only be provided by sponsors & to get sponsors you need to get people to like you.There is a 2-week training & evaluation period where sponsors get to see the tribute's skills. Katniss is a strong and smart competitor & gathers sponsor attention by shooting an apple in their buffet, during evaluation. She gets a high score. President Snow tells Gamemaker Seneca Crane to contain Katniss, lest she controls the games. During an interview with TV personality Caesar Flickerman, Peeta unexpectedly reveals his love for Katniss. She is initially outraged, believing it to be a ploy to gain audience support, as "sponsors" may provide in-Games gifts of food, medicine, and tools. However, she discovers Peeta meant what he said.The Games begin with half of the tributes killed in the first few minutes; Katniss barely survives ignoring Haymitch's advice to run away from the melee around the tempting supplies and weapons strewn in front of a structure called the Cornucopia. Peeta forms an uneasy alliance with the Careers Cato, Clove, Marvel and Glimmer, and aids in the killing of the District 8 female tribute. Katniss tries to hide in the edges of the game & Crane pushes her back in by setting fire to the forest. Katniss is injured while escaping the raging flames. Haymitch convinces some sponsors to send some antibiotics to Katniss in the game to keep her alive.The Careers later find Katniss and chase her up a tree. A young girl from District 11 named Rue, hiding in a nearby tree, draws her attention to a poisonous Tracker Jaccker nest hanging from a branch. Katniss drops it on her sleeping besiegers. They all scatter, except for Glimmer, who is killed by the insects. Hallucinating due to Tracker Jacker venom, Katniss is warned to run away by Peeta. Rue cares for Katniss for a couple of days until she recovers.The alliance has gathered all the supplies into a pile. Katniss has Rue draw them off, then destroys the stockpile by setting off the mines the group had planted around it. Furious, Cato kills the District 3 boy assigned to guard it. Rue is fatally wounded by Marvel. Katniss kills Marvel, then comforts the dying Rue. Afterward, she gathers and arranges flowers around Rue's body. When this is televised, it sparks a riot in District 11. President Snow (Donald Sutherland) summons Seneca Crane, the Gamemaker, to express his displeasure at the way the Games are turning out.Since Katniss and Peeta have been presented to the public as "star-crossed lovers", Haymitch is able to convince Crane to make a rule change to avoid inciting further riots. It is announced that tributes from the same district can win as a pair. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and finds him with an infected sword wound in the leg. She portrays herself as deeply in love with him and gains the sponsor gift of soup. An announcer proclaims a feast, where the thing each survivor needs most will be provided. Peeta begs her not to risk getting him medicine.Katniss promises not to go, but after he falls asleep, she heads to the feast. Clove ambushes her and pins her down. As Clove gloats, Thresh, the other District 11 tribute, kills Clove after overhearing her tormenting Katniss about killing Rue. He spares Katniss "just this time...for Rue". The medicine works, keeping Peeta mobile.Foxface, the girl from District 5, who had survived by avoiding human contact, and stealing food from other tributes, dies from eating Nightlock berries she had stolen from Peeta; neither knowing they are highly poisonous. Crane unleashes a pack of hound-like creatures, called Mutations, to speed things up. They kill Thresh and force Katniss and Peeta to flee to the roof of the Cornucopia, where they encounter Cato. After a battle, Katniss wounds Cato with an arrow and Peeta hurls him to the creatures below. Katniss shoots Cato to spare him a prolonged death.With Peeta and Katniss apparently victorious, the rule change allowing two winners is suddenly revoked, forcing Peeta and Katniss to fight to the death. Peeta tells Katniss to shoot him. Instead, she gives him half of the Nightlock, realizing that killing themselves would deprive the people of a victor. However, before they can commit suicide, they are hastily proclaimed the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.Haymitch warns Katniss that she has made powerful enemies after her display of defiance. She and Peeta return to District 12, while Crane is locked in a room with a bowl of Nightlock berries, and President Snow considers the situation.

Storyline

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. — Suzanne Collins Set in a future North America known as "Panem", the Capitol selects a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each of the twelve outlying districts to compete in the annual "Hunger Games", a televised fight-to-the-death. The film is centered around Katniss Everdeen - a 16-year-old girl from District 12, who volunteers for her 12-year-old sister, Prim, when Prim's name is chosen - and Katniss's fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, with whom she has some rather dramatic history. Katniss is then rushed to the Capitol, where she undergoes intense training before being thrust into the arena to fight to become the victor of the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games. — fallgeek In order to control future rebellions by remembering the past rebellion, the Powers That Be of the dystopian society of Panem force two youngsters from each of the twelve districts to participate in The Hunger Games. The rules are very simple: the twenty-four players must kill each other and survive in the wilderness until only one remains. The games are broadcast through the Capital and the twelve districts to entertain and intimidate the population. In District 12, teenager Katniss Everdeen is a great hunter and archer. When her younger sister, Primrose Everdeen, is selected as one of the "tributes" of their district, Katniss volunteers to take her place in the games. Together with Peeta Mellark, they head by train to the Capital to be prepared for the brutal game. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil In the ruins of what was once North America, the country of Panem requires a teenage boy and girl from each of its twelve districts to participate in the Hunger Games every year. At the Hunger Games, a nationally televised competition, "Tributes" compete against one another until only one survivor is left. It is a combination of twisted entertainment and government intimidation. Katniss is forced to rely on her keen intuition and the guidance of inebriated former winner Haymitch Abernathy as she faces off against highly skilled Tributes who have trained for these Games their entire lives. Katniss has to make difficult decisions in the arena that pit life against love and survival against humanity if she ever wants to return home to District 12. Everyone will be observing. — Oscar Serpa