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.