Baby Name Trend Starter: "Katniss" was unheard of as a given name before the release of The Hunger Games, which led a number of parents to give their daughters the name in the early 2010s. It enjoyed another boost in 2020 with the release of the prequel novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The traditional Chinese translation uses different titles for the second and third books:
Catching Fire is translated as 《星火燎原》, an idiom that literally translates to "a small spark/flame which can burn up a field". While the usual use refers to 'something new that starts out weak but has great vitality and will go far', its figurative usage likely refers to the Rebellion.
Mockingjay deviates from this even more, being titled 《自由幻夢》, or roughly "a dream of freedom".
The German translation of the first book (and thus the whole series) is Die Tribute Von Panem (The Tributes of Panem). This is based on the Working Title of the first novel, The Tribute of District Twelve.
You can actually buy mockingjay pins. Interesting, because the citizens of the Capitol displayed this exact behavior in Catching Fire.
Based on the descriptions in the book, you can now find recipes for the bread from District 4 and 11, as well as attempts at Katniss' favourite lamb stew.
Protesters against the 2014 coup d'état in Thailand have used the three-finger salute.
The salute has seen been used again in Thailand in 2020, as well as by protestors in Hong Kong and in Myanmar following the 2021 coup d'état that restored the military to power.
Working Title: The working title of the first novel was The Tribute of District Twelve. Some foreign editions do this, like the German release, Die Tribute Von Panem (The Tributes of Panem). Catching Fire was originally called The Ripple Effect but that was deemed “too watery for the Girl on Fire”. Mockingjay’s working title had something to do with ashes according to Collin’s Tenth Anniversary Interview.
Katniss is described as having olive skin and implied to be mixed race in the book. Jennifer Lawrence is white. Although there was some controversy over the Race Lift, Lawrence's performance was universally praised.
Peeta is described as having blond, curly hair, blue eyes and being taller than Katniss. Josh Hutcherson dyes his hair blond but keeps it straight instead of curly. There was also fan outrage over him not being "good looking enough" for Katniss to pick him over Gale. Suzanne Collins said that Hutcherson was perfect for the part. By the time the third and fourth movies came out, most fans of the books agreed that he captured Peeta's character very well.
The film was banned in Vietnam. Officially, the ban was for showing youth violence, though it has more to do with Vietnam not being happy with a film that shows youngsters fighting back against a totalitarian state. The rest of the series, however, was shown and even with much publicity.
Strangely enough, the film was not banned in China itself, despite it being more authoritarian than Vietnam. This is possibly because one can interpret the film as a parable about "Western decadence".
Isabelle Fuhrman originally auditioned for Katniss. After deciding that she was too young for Katniss and too old for Prim, the producers invited her to audition for Clove.
Alexander Ludwig was considered for Peeta Mellark before being cast as Cato.
Creator Backlash: Director Francis Lawrence completely regrets splitting Mockingjay into two parts, as he realized that forcing the audience to wait a year to see what happens next was frustrating and disingenuous. He admitted that it would've been better if he just made Mockingjay one longer movie.
At first, the film's creators considered casting an actual teen in the lead role (among others, Saoirse Ronan, Chloë Moretz, and Hailee Steinfeld were considered for Katniss' part). They finally settled with 21-year old Jennifer Lawrence to play 16-year old Katniss. Liam Hemsworth (Gale, 18) was 21 during filming, while Josh Hutcherson (Peeta, 16) was 19. Leven Rambin (Glimmer, 18) was 21 at the time.
Many of the actors playing tributes from the other districts are at least 20.
Died During Production: Philip Seymour Hoffman died just a week before he would have finished filming his scenes for the two Mockingjay films. He was digitally inserted into some scenes he hadn't shot.
Katniss and Gale are brunettes played by blondes while blonde Peeta is played by a brunette. Otherwise averted with Katniss's skinny frame — as Jennifer Lawrence refused to starve herself for a role.
Many of the Capitol extras actually allowed their hair to be dyed those crazy colors for the movies. That is dedication.
The success of this series has ushered in a proliferation of countless young adult series with post-apocalyptic settings where young protagonists must survive under oppressive Hunger Games-like situations imposed on them by evil adult overlords.
A common criticism among bloggers is the fact that the storyline is supposedly identical to Battle Royale, another book following children in a fight to the death.
The Other Darrin: In the Japanese dub, possibly due to licensing, Rue and Seneca's roles are recast in the DVD/BD release of the movie in Japan, but the rest of the cast keeps their original dub voices from the theatrical version.
Foxface's actress Jackie Emerson is a huge fan of the series, as is Clove's actresss Isabella Fuhrman.
Appears to be the case with Donald Sutherland, who after reading the first film's script, he then sought the role of Snow by writing Gary Ross a letter where he delved into the character's motivations in great detail (which ended up being the basis for some of Snow's scenes in the first film). The DVD of the first film has a bonus feature of Sutherland reading the letter.
Elizabeth Banks, who plays Effie, actively sought the part, being a huge fan of the books. She's also a huge Hayffie shipper and has said in interviews that she's asked Suzanne Collins if the two kiss in the final film. In the books, they're never shown as romantically involved. However in Mockingjay Part 2, the film ends with Effie and Haymitch kissing each other. She even gave her character in Pitch Perfect the surname Abernathy.
Playing Against Type: Alexander Ludwig had often been in Kid Hero roles such as Race to Witch Mountain and The Seeker, and was one of the actors in the running to play Peeta. He, however, jumped at the chance to play a villain for a change.
Reality Subtext: Jennifer Lawrence was reluctant to take the role of Katniss, having been used to independent films and worried about the franchise's popularity — just like Katniss becomes a celebrity when she doesn't want to be. She became a huge celebrity, rich and a victim of gossip and privacy violation at the same time her film character had these things happen to her. And then she received a huge fanbase because her fans find her authenticity and outspokenness very endearing, the same happened with the film character.
Scully Box: Jennifer Lawrence has a good two inches over Josh Hutcherson. In the film, he is hoisted up to that they look the same height.
Self-Adaptation: Suzanne Collins wrote the screenplay for the first movie.
Sequel Gap: The fourth book was released in May 2020, nearly a decade after the release of the third book, Mockingjay.
Star-Making Role: Although Jennifer Lawrence had already gained a decent amount of recognition for her performances in Winter's Bone (for which she was Oscar-nominated) and X-Men: First Class, it was the first Hunger Games film that truly shot her to the A-List and subsequently made her a major household name worldwide.
Throw It In!: The extra scenes with President Snow and Seneca Crane are apparently the product of a lengthy letter Donald Sutherland wrote to the director on his interpretation of the character of Snow after he read the original screenplay. Ross liked them so much that he wrote two scenes of character exposition exploring the themes of Sutherland's letter and added them to the script for the first movie, thus elevating Sutherland to the status of Cool Old Guy in real life. You can find his letter online, but the DVD special features has him actually reading it.
Trend Killer: The film adaptations of The Hunger Games (2012) and Twilight (2008) killed the child-led blockbuster franchises that Harry Potter had popularized. Young adult novels featuring child protagonists either aged up their protagonists (e.g. The Giver and Seventh Son) or used teenage/adult protagonists instead.
An earlier version of the script opened with Katniss watching the 73rd Annual Hunger Games, and had numerous departures from the book such as Gale sneaking into the Capitol aboard a coal train and the District 4 male getting killed by stepping off his pedestal too early. In addition, President Snow would have only appeared at the end, throwing Seneca Crane out of his hovercraft.
appeared during the protests in Ferguson, Missouri regarding the shooting of Michael Brown.