In what's shaping up to be the next big book adaptation, here is the trailer for The Hunger Games.
I guess I will start off by stating the obvious. When I hear the plot summary for The Hunger Games (a bunch of teens being gathered together for a battle to the death), I immediately think of the cult classic Japanese film Battle Royale. Of course, there are probably many films with similar plots (including the 1987 Schwarzenegger film The Running Man), so I think it's nothing I should think about too much.
When I was watching this trailer I was thinking two things: a) the film is obviously aimed towards a teen audience and b) it involves an event where teens fight each other too the death. These two things don't necessarily mix and it resulted me to wonder what exactly the rating of the film will be.
Based on what I read about the book, if the movie was 100% faithful, the film would receive an R rating for violence. However, since the film is very obviously aiming towards the teen demographic, I figured that it would probably not receive a rating higher than PG-13 (a fact that I have since confirmed). Part of me wishes they were brave enough to go for the higher rating, since I guarantee that the teens would probably see it nonetheless.
As for the rest of the film, it does look like it will be decent. I think the film is really well cast, with up-and-comer Jennifer Lawrence in the lead and the likes of Donald Sutherland and Woody Harrelson appearing in supporting roles.
Overall, I'll say that I'll probably check out the film when it opens in March.
