LOS ANGELES - The fan votes - not just the odds - were in “The Hunger Games” favor at the MTV Movie Awards.

The dystopian survival saga escaped from Sunday’s 21st annual extravaganza with the most golden popcorn-shaped trophies, including best fight for the film’s final three-way battle and best on-screen transformation for Elizabeth Banks’ over-the-top futuristic makeover. “Hunger Games” stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were also honored for best female and male performances.

“I’ve wanted to hold a golden popcorn since I was 4 years old,” beamed Hutcherson.

With four wins out of eight nominations, “Hunger Games” didn’t totally decimate the competition. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2” won prizes for best cast and best hero, while “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1” won for movie of the year, and “Twilight” stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson locked the best kiss trophy for the fourth straight year.

Film adaptation a well-told tale

Literature aimed at young adults has served as the basis for two of the most popular (not to mention lucrative) film franchises in history. Both J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series and Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” books have spawned movies that have made hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office.

Suzanne Collins’s book “The Hunger Games,” as well as the two subsequent books in the series, aims to be the next blockbuster in line.

“The Hunger Games” follows young Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, “X-Men: First Class”), a girl who lives in far-flung District 12 in a dystopian future nation called Panem. This society revolves around a yearly competition known as the Hunger Games, in which two “tributes” – a boy and a girl – between the ages of 12 and 18 are selected to compete in a battle to the death. When her sister is selected, Katniss offers herself up as a volunteer replacement.