Scholastic announced today that author Suzanne Collins untitled Hunger Games prequel novel will hit shelves on May 19, 2020, & Lionsgate wasted no time showing their interest in turning it into a feature film.
The novel will be set in the world of Panem 64 years before the events of the original Hunger Games trilogy on the morning of the reaping of the 10th Hunger Games — well before the lifetime of the story’s protagonists Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence on-screen.
Lionsgate previously adapted four movies from Collins trilogy, splitting the final Hunger Games: Mockingjay into two parts. The films were wildly successful, grossing close to $3 billion at the worldwide box office and next to Twilight is one of Lionsgate’s signature franchises at the studio. Lionsgate is very interested in adapting the prequel and will move forward should Collins show interest.
The Hunger Games books appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 260 consecutive weeks (more than five consecutive years), and there are more than 100 million copies of all three books in the trilogy. Collins has been involved in the movies serving as an EP and a co-screenwriter on the first 2012 movie.
