Ex-Disney exec Nina Jacobson and her production company Color Force want to get into the “young adult” field, having bought the rights to HUNGER GAMES, which is apparently a hit novel with all those TWILIGHT and HARRY POTTER readers. (They’re taking over the damn world, you know.)
The story has a ring familiar even to The Hollywood Reporter, which describes it as BATTLE ROYALE meets THE RUNNING MAN. You can gather what it’s about just based on that. The flick is to take place in a futuristic society, where the subjugated districts must pay tribute in the form of a boy and a girl who are forced to participate in a televised battle to the death. Decidedly darker than most of those other ‘tween books, but of course they won’t exactly be aiming for a hard R with this one.
Speaking of THE RUNNING MAN, Stephen King is a big fan of HUNGER GAMES, which is a good start as far as I’m concerned. (Apparently, HUNGER GAMES is just the first in a proposed trilogy – which could not have hurt the production company’s decision to snatch up the rights.) Warner Bros. and Lionsgate were among a bundle of studios looking to grab the hot property, so there must be something to it…