Movie Trailers Have Become A Main Event

The trailer for "Prometheus" was teased and it "was viewed 29.7 million times", says Fox Chief Marketing Officer. As we all already know, trailers are viewed more online than they are in theatres. To really pull in your viewers/audience, you have to market it online and toward your demographic (even if that means teasing the trailer). As the article states, "studios now market the marketing". This is probably because of the rapid growing industry and social media websites. The article goes on to talk about the pros and cons of trailers and how they should be marketed. The article gives statistics and examples of many films, but this is the paragraph that stuck with me the most:

"The increasing numbers of trailers online and commentary surrounding them mean increased scrutiny for the people who make them. Bloggers and tweeters dissect every frame of a trailer for mysterious projects like "The Hunger Games" or "Prometheus" and can create instantaneous bad buzz for films whose trailers they don't like, as happened to the flops "John Carter" and "Green Lantern."

How to Improve the 75th Annual Hunger Games

Rob Cesternino, "the smartest player to have never won Survivor," offers some tips as to how President Snow can improve the 75th Annual Hunger Games by incorporating "past" reality TV show elements from the shows of 2012. 

And if those fail, Cesternino suggests trying "The Celebrity Hunger Games" instead.

Donald Sutherland Talks the Politics of Hunger Games

In and interview with EW, Donald Sutherland talks not about the violence of The Hunger Games, but the political themes in the film.  The first clip is only 0:57 seconds long, but Sutherland discusses the scenes that Gary Ross wrote with President Snow in the rose gardens and how he feels they "encapsulated exactly what [the Capitol] was with an oligarchy, the privileged, controlling the 99%." 

'Hunger Games' Haul Sets Hollywood Chasing Female Heroes

21 year old Jennifer Lawrence who plays Katniss in the "The Hunger Games" proves that a female protagonist can be the lead role in a gladiator type story. The female audience over the first weekend was 61% and 56% percent of this female audience was over the age of 25. Although this film stars a female protagonist, Collins stated, "When ever I write a story, I hope i appeals to both boys and girls." The numbers from Box Office Mojo have certainly represented this film as a phenomenon for all demographics.

Studios gorge on young-adult fiction amid success of 'Hunger Games'

This article talks about the frenzy of book buying that studios are involved in after the success 'young-adult' fiction novels like the Twilight series, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games have seen recently.

Racism and The Hunger Games

Jezebel took a look at how fans are reacting to the casting of Rue and Thresh in The Hunger Games and it's not pretty. Although the book clearly states that Rue has, "Dark brown skin and eyes," many fans did not envision her that way while reading the book. Unfortunately the Internet can be a place that has  a lack of inhibitions, and people took to Twitter to voice their concern.

"The Hunger Games" too gory?

It seems to be that some parents say The Hunger Games is too gory for their kids despite the PG-13 rating. Although, PG-13 means "parents strongly cautioned" and the murder and bloodshed follow in line with the MPAA guidelines. According to the article, there were some cuts of blood splashes, injury detail, along with four other violent scenes. Visual cuts and color darkening helped disguise some violent parts along with a shaky camera. Additionally, Suzanne Collins, the books author and co-screenwriter said she intended for her books to be adapted into PG-13 ratings. How could she not though when it is about teenagers killing each other. Jennifer Lawrence defended the film, "We weren’t going to make a watered-down version of what we love. If you take the violence and brutality out of the movie, you take the entire heart out of it."

Young Adult Fiction Hype

Studios gorge on young-adult fiction amid success of 'Hunger Games'
The influence of young adult fiction in Hollywood over the past years has taken over. The studios have gone into a frenzy with buying the rights to young adult books that are only modest sellers. In doing this it may save them money in the future. With the drastic new change in teen hits, The Hunger Games allows for all types of demographics to take interest. Therefore, the studios intend to develop stories with a darker theme instead of the over used love story that previous franchises have over done.

'Hunger Games' likely to continue B.O. killing

For a short time last year, Warner's planned for the "Titans" sequel to go head-to-head with"Hunger Games." When buzz for the Lionsgate pic grew, Warner ultimately moved "Wrath" back a week. Wrath of The Titans claims to be nipping at the heels of 'Hunger Games" but other studios took several titles out of the way months ago when they saw "Hunger" on the horizon. With "Wrath of The Titans" up next do you think B.O. sales will shift?

Hunger Games Successful Despite No Promotional Tie-Ins

Tie-ins are a major aspect of marketing, even the sure fire bomb Battleship has committed $50 million in promotional tie-ins. Despite this The Hunger Games surprisingly did not have any tie-ins for the first movie. This was their plan however, because the studio wasn't sure if people would accept the violence. Plans for the next movie include a promotional tie-in campaign.

'Hunger Games' Takes 3rd all time - List of top grossing films

OPENING WEEKENDS

The psychological truth behind the 'Hunger Games'

Fox News' opinion on how 'The Hunger Games' depicts bad messages towards youth watching.

‘THE HUNGER GAMES’ SCORES $214.25M: $155M U.S.-Canada + $59.25M Foreign; #3 Biggest Weekend Beats ‘Twilight Saga’

This article broke down the revenue for The Hunger Games during its opening weekend. Aside from the numbers, the article analyzed why The Hunger Games was able to be so successful due to its ability to attract major audiences. The movie's goal was to attract teenagers. That was their only audience. By choosing such a narrow target, the hype from the teenagers leaked into the curious minds of the adult demographic who keep up to date with pop culture.

The marketing was a huge success to the movie's success. The article mentions how 90% of this weekend's viewers were fully aware of the movie and its synopsis before actually viewing the movie. That knowledge was able to reach out to the audience and get them intrigued enough to see it opening weekend.

Jennifer Lawrence Is Not “Too Big” To Play Katniss

A great article about how ridiculous and disgusting it is that film critics are "bodysnarking on Jennifer Lawrence." I have to agree that it's disturbing that critics would comment they think Lawrence is basically too fat and big for the role. Lawrence is obviously very fit and slim in the movie (as she is in real life), and certainly does not deserve the criticism she is receiving. Plus, the criticism sends a terrible message that in order for a female to be considered beautiful that you have to be a walking stick, and Hollywood doesn't need any help perpetuating that image. Finally, I think the author really hits the nail on the head when she says, "Movie critics suspend their disbelief all the time—and when they suddenly refuse to do so for a female actor whose body looks more like an average woman’s body rather than less, it’s hard to see that as anything but sexist."

'Hunger Games': Five Best Scenes Not In The Movie

One of the biggest complaints about books being adapted into to films is the lack of scenes that are cut in order to fit the story in two and a half hours. Everyone has their favorite moments from the book that they are excited to see on the big screen, but are always disappointed when they find out they haven't been included. After I watched the film, I spoke to many people who were upset that the Avox girl was left out and felt that it was in important detail that illustrated The Capital's power over the districts. Some were also disappointed by how Katniss obtains the mockingjay pin. Here is an article that lists the five best scenes from the book that the author believes should have been included in the film. While I don't feel the first two are crucial to the overall story, I do believe that Katniss receiving bread from District 11 after Rue dies and her reaction when Peeta is taken away after they are airlifted from the games are two scenes that could have helped the film out.

Jennifer Lawrence and the Academy?

Lawrence's performance is buzzing with positive reviews and Entertainment Weekly discusses in this article the gravity of such a performance. It references reviews where it is stated that Lawrence is as perfect an embodiment of Katniss as could be expected. Could another Oscer nomination be in her future? It is tough but not unheard of to secure a nomination from a March opening, the test will be if Jennifer Lawrence's popularity will hold out, and with this buzz around the franchise she does not seem to be going anywhere.

Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Disappointed

Casting Cinna, Rue and Thresh with black actors has made a lot of fans very disappointed. Cinna, who was not really depicted in the book, could be any ethnicity, so it really doesn't matter. Suzanne refers to Rue as having "dark brown skin and eyes" along with Thresh. This depiction could be a really tan person, Native American, etc but Gary Ross chose to cast black actors. I didn't think anything about that when watching the film, personally, I think the actors fit the characters pretty well. Apparently other fans of the book didn't think the same though; here's the article.

What 'The Hunger Games' Movie had that the book did not

Going into the movie I was concerned with how they would portray Katniss without her seeming cold. In the first book her inner thoughts really give an in depth sense to her character and why she does the things she does, but in the movie, none of those inner thoughts would be there. I think they did an overall good job explaining the game as well as developing Katniss into an empowering, sensitive, and vulnerable girl.

I have had many conversations the past few days about what the book had that the movie didn't. Whether or not the movie held true to the book well enough and if it really worked. In the end though, every one I have talked to enjoyed the movie and thought it did a better job as an adaptation than many other book to movie films.

But a conversation I have not had yet was what the movie had that the book did not. There were many adaptations that helped move the story along and really worked. This article includes many of the scenes that were only in the movie.

Hunger Games, A Waste of Time?

This article is by far one of the more thought provoking critical arguments on the Hunger Games that I've read since the film's premiere this past Friday.

The author makes a good point in the sense that although the film managed to hit the basic elements of the book, the dampening of the violence created an emotional disconnect with the film's characters and the audience. Essentially, the killings were cheapened by Hollywood's economic desire for a PG-13 rating.

The film lacked any political charge or groundbreaking social commentary. Romantic chemistry among the two star crossed lovers, essentially non-existant.

These are very daring comments on a film that seemed to be ranking in the approval of critics everywhere.

The Hunger Games breaks US box office record The Hunger Games enjoyed the third highest opening weekend ever, taking $214 million worldwide. By Flore

Eagerly anticipated fantasy flick The Hunger Games took $155 million in its opening weekend in North America and Canada, the highest domestic total for a film that isn't a sequel.

It is the biggest debut outside the summer blockbuster season, and ranks as the third-highest domestic opening weekend in history behind only last summer's Harry Potter finale and 2008 Batman sequel The Dark Knight, Lionsgate said on Sunday.

The film also went to the number one spot in nearly every country, amassing a global total of $214.3 million. What's more, The Hunger Games alone earned more than all films combined during the comparable 2011 dates.