As evident through Twilight and more recently The Hunger Games, to be released in 2012, turning novels into movies seems like a popular trend these days. Either we’ve run out of original screenwriters or the movie industry is just too lazy to search for more. Now, do these two share anything in common? Besides the technical details, the answer to that is no. The stories are different; one is about a mopey girl with an obsession for a sparkly vampire, whereas the latter is about a courageous girl who takes her sister’s place fight-to-the-death competition. What I do believe is that after its movie release, The Hunger Games will receive a similar reception to that of Twilight.
The one similarity that both novels share revolves around their respective heroine. Both Isabella Swan and Katniss Everdeen eventually face a very troubling complication: Love. Torn between the sun and moon, the heroines venture out all the while weeping over which berries to pick. On one corner there’s the dark, suave, mysterious hunk who’s unpredictability is just simply intriguing. At the other end we have the warm, cuddly, understanding sweetheart who emits this vibe of security. It’s like choosing between cookie dough or brownie butter. A tough choice indeed.
Stories of love complications seem to be incredibly effective towards their audience. Why else would there be any hype for Twilight if this weren’t so? And because The Hunger Games possesses a similar love triangle, reactions for The Hunger Games movie are predictable.
Does anybody remember the Twilight frenzy that swept the nation after its release? All I heard for the next 4 months were questions like “Are you Team Jacob or Team Edward?” and “Who’s prettier? Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner?” Needless to say, all I saw for the next 4 months were Twilight wallpapers, screensavers, shirts, pendants, tubesocks, and even diapers. Can you just imagine the hysteria that will occur after “The Hunger Games” releases? The question of “Team Gale” or “Team Peeta” will be asked along with the occasional outliers that will form a “Team Prim”. If Isabella became the #1 most popular girl’s name back in 2005, the year Twilight was released, I can just imagine how many people will be inspired to take up archery with dreams to live vicariously as Katniss after the movie comes out. Although, I must admit that the idea of seeing mockingjay pins on backpacks all around appeals to me.
Hollywood Reporter has stated that The Hunger Games trilogy is planned to be separated into four movies. They say that they want to split “Catching Fire into two.” A trilogy into four movies? Isn’t that quite similar to what they did for Harry Potter and Twilight? Predictable.
Well, whether or not The Hunger Games will achieve the same reaction as Twilight did, I just hope that Lionsgate does a much better job with adapting The Hunger Games into a film than how Summit Entertainment did with Twilight.
View the upcoming Hunger Games trailer here:
