Now that it’s confirmed that Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, will be released as two films (November 2014 and November 2015 release dates are set), it leaves the fans wondering: Where will the split be? At what part of the story will Lionsgate to choose to leave us for a YEAR until the next film is put out in theaters?

Next Movie had a few recommendations. MAJOR SPOILERS!

Deadly Rescue Mission
Katniss takes a hit on one of her propos missions for District 13, and when she wakes up in the hospital, she gets some troubling news: Gale and others have been sent on a rescue mission to retrieve Peeta and Finnick Odair‘s love Annie. It’s a dangerous ordeal. Katniss faces the reality that she may lose not one but both of the boys she cares about, and there’s nothing she can do to stop it … Scary, scary!
Peeta Returns … Sort Of
There’s another split potential moment when Gale and team do return successfully from their rescue mission. They’ve saved Peeta and some of the others from the Capitol, and she’s relieved about that. When she goes to see him and he rushes over to her, though, and rather than the warm loving embrace she was expecting, he lunges for her throat.

This is not the same Peeta she’s always known. All bets are off now. Splitting the two films at this point would give the filmmakers an opportunity to really play up Peeta’s dramatic rescue and the consequences of Katniss’ acceptance of the role of the Mockingjay. Not only would this be a frightening and intense moment to end with, but it would also set the stage well for the later events to come between them and for the revolution at large.

Read more of their ideas here.

In addition, EW.com weighed in with a few of their thoughts. Again SPOILERS ahead!

SPLIT POINT #1: District 13 is attacked
Catching Fire ends with Peeta falling into the clutches of the Capitol as Katniss, Gale, and Haymitch hole up in the underground, mysterious District 13, and Katniss begrudgingly lets the rebellion transform her into the symbol of their struggle: the Mockingjay. During a propaganda broadcast by the Capitol, Peeta manages to warn District 13 that an attack is eminent, giving everyone enough time to prepare.
The climax: In the book, District 13 is basically a giant bunker, but Mockingjay Part 1 could fudge things and allow for a Helm’s Deep-like battle in which District 13 emerges the victor.
The cliffhanger: Afterwards, Katniss realizes that whatever she does as the Mockingjay to rally support will only be taken out on Peeta by the Capitol. She has a nervous breakdown, and is sedated. When she comes to, Haymitch tells her a rescue mission has been launched to save Peeta. Its leader: Gale. OMG! She could lose them both!

SPLIT POINT #2: Peeta is rescued
With Katniss nervously waiting back in District 13, Gale leads a small force inside the Capitol to rescue Peeta, and a few other prisoners.
The climax: Collins lets Gale’s rescue mission to save Peeta unfold offscreen, as it were, but Mockingjay Part 1 could depict the rescue with a major action sequence — possibly involving Katniss herself, though some fans would find that sacrilege.
The cliffhanger: Peeta is saved, and Katniss races to his hospital bed for their long awaited reunion. As Katniss puts it in the book, “My lips are just forming [Peeta's] name when his fingers lock around my throat.” OMG! Peeta’s been brainwashed into a sleeper assassin!

Read more here.

With all the excitement over the news that Mockingjay will be split into 2 movies, there are lots of differing opinions in the fandom about this including whether they are pro or against the split, and where the split should occur.

Hollywood.com asked a couple of the Hunger Games fansites (including us) about our thoughts on the split :

Of course, the decision to divide Mockingjay could be just as polarizing as the last part of the trilogy itself. So how do some of the series biggest, most devoted fans feel about the decision to split up Mockingjay? Well, pretty split, actually. Crystal Watanabe, an administrator at The Hunger Games fan siteMockingjay.net told Hollywood.com that, “In general, it seems like the entire fandom is split. I’ve seen people complain about Lionsgate just being greedy. A lot of people point to Catching Fire as their favorite book, so that’s naturally the one that they want to see split into two movies. I disagree, however, becauseCatching Fire seemed to have about the same amount of content as The Hunger Games, which just barely fit into one movie.”

Watanabe, who is in favor of the split (“Mockingjay was in dire need of two movies or else the end product would have been ridiculously disjointed and difficult to follow”) and the yearly release dates (“The way I look at it is that it’s a lot better than having to wait almost two years between The Hunger Games and Catching Fire“) has her own hopes for how the movies play out, too. “Lionsgate will [probably] end it with the ‘new’ Peeta. I think for a better movie they will have Katniss help with the rescue operation and this will be the climax of the film, though she won’t see him until they get back to District 13 and they’ll end with their first reunion.”

Sheila Cordero, an admin for fellow fan site HG Girl On Fire, is also in favor of having two Mockingjayfilms. “I know some fans have expressed concern that the book Mockingjay isn’t a very long book and will not have enough content to split into two movies,” she told Hollywood.com, “[But] I believe doing it this way gives movie the opportunity to explore other characters’ points of view.” Cordero, who said she would like to see part 1 end “after they rescue Peeta and he and Katniss are first reunited and she is shocked at Peeta’s reaction to her,” hopes two Mockingjay takes moviegoers takes us to places the book never did: away from Katniss’ perspective. “We might get more insight into what is happening in the other districts, how the rebellion is affecting the Capitol, what Peeta is experiencing when held captive by President Snow, events from Haymitch’s perspective, President Coin’s behind-the-scenes interactions, and, of course, more of Finnick and Johanna’s back story.” 

While every fan won’t get exactly what they want to see happen in the Mockingjay films (for every fan like Cordero who wants to see the movie expand the book’s horizons, there are fans like Watanabe who would prefer “to experience everything with and through Katniss”) they can all agree on one thing: they’re all eager to see if the odds will be in their favor.

 

Read the entire article at Hollywood.com 

What do you guys think about the decision to split Mockingjay into 2 movies? Sound off in the comments :)

Amazon recently released their Top 10 most highlight passages for the Kindle  and the Hunger Games Trilogy make up 8 out of 10 quotes highlighted.  Check it out!

Here are the top 10 highlighted passages :

1. “Because sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them.” (Catching Fire)

2. “The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.” (The Hunger Games)

3. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Pride and Prejudice)

4. “It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.” (Mockingjay)

5. “’I just want to spend every possible minute of the rest of my life with you,’ Peeta replies.” (Catching Fire)

6. “’I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever,’ he says.” (Catching Fire)

7. “Life in District 12 isn’t really so different from life in the arena. At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.” (Catching Fire)

8. “Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” (Pride and Prejudice)

9. “’Having an eye for beauty isn’t the same thing as a weakness,’ Peeta points out. ‘Except possibly when it comes to you.’” (Catching Fire)

10. “I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.” (The Hunger Games)

Source : Amazon via My Hunger Games

Yay!! The Hunger Games trilogy is officially in the top 3 spots on USA Today’s top 20 best sellers list for the 1st quarter.

According to USA Today :

Boosted by the movie release, The Hunger Games series dominatedUSA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list for the first quarter. Here are the top 20 sellers Jan. 12 through April 5, and related content about the books:

1.  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2.  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Read the rest of the list HERE 

Source : USA Today via HGT 

This year’s list of most challenged books has been released by the ALA and the Hunger Games series makes the cut again. The list is compiled from books that are most often challenged by both parents and educators as inappropriate reading material for children or teens.

As “The Hunger Games” trilogy becomes more popular, more parents and educators are questioning whether it belongs on school library shelves at all.

For the second year in a row, Suzanne Collins’ work was among the most “challenged” books, as reported Sunday by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. The association defines a challenge as “a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness.”

Read more here.

Lark Crafts recently got the opportunity to interview Dana Schneider the woman who created the famous mockingjay pin.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Tell me about making the mockingjay pin for The Hunger Games.

Well, with The Hunger Games, the design was already established. The pin is on the cover of the first book. So it was an incredible challenge to replicate something that’s so clear in the minds of so many fans. Getting it right involved months of meetings, models, and plane trips. [Dana now lives in her hometown of Canton, Ohio, and “commutes” to her film work.]

I carved the original by hand using lost-wax casting. It is sterling silver plated with 22-karat gold and with an antique finish applied. It took a while to get that aged look right. And it took six different models to work out things such as where to solder the arrow on the pin and how to make it look delicate and yet have it still be functional.

When working on a movie, you have many different things to take into account. Jennifer Lawrence’s main costume was canvas, so the pin had to look delicate but be able go through several thick layers of canvas. And because I’d read the book, when the costume designer asked me to make the mockingjay pin, I knew immediately that I’d also be making the pin for the stunt double. You don’t want the stunt double to be hurt when wearing a piece of jewelry—that’s number one. You always have to think about things like that when making jewelry for movies.

And there’s no point in contacting you to buy a copy of the mockingjay pin, right?

Right. I have nothing to do with the ones for sale. Those are not a replica of my pin, but a computer-generated 3D model of the book cover illustration. I made only four finished pins for the movie. I always make one to keep and have as a backup. You never know when you may need that backup.

Read the rest HERE 

With the growing popularity of the Hunger Games series, I am not surprised by this.  I think it’s great so many people are picking up and reading the books!!

Not since Stephenie Meyer (Twilight), who did it 13 times, or J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter), who did it four times, has an author swept the top four spots on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.

But after last weekend’s movie release of The Hunger Games, which set a box-office record for a non-sequel, Suzanne Collins sweeps the top of the list, as thebox set of her trilogy moves up to No. 4.

It’s the 11th week this year that her three novels have held the top three spots. And Collins did it the old-fashioned way: Print versions are outselling e-books.

Source : USA Today 

Are you in one of the top U.S. cities that is reading the Hunger Games trilogy? Amazon.com has released a list of the top 20 cities in the country, based on books purchased per capita. Here’s the list:

1. Sunnyvale, CA
2. Salt Lake City, UT
3. Tallahassee, FL
4. Seattle, WA
5. Orlando, FL
6. Pittsburgh, PA
7. St. Louis, MO
8. Provo, UT
9. San Francisco, CA
10. Naperville, IL
11. Washington, DC
12. Richmond, VA
13. Scottsdale, AZ
14. Wilmington, NC
15. Murfreesboro, TN
16. Vancouver, WA
17. Portland, OR
18. Tampa, FL
19. Overland Park, KS
20. Norman, OK

Did your city make the list? OK, mine didn’t either…  But either way, Amazon.com is celebrating hte film’s release with a sweepstakes:

“There’s no denying that the Hunger Games has become a worldwide phenomenon, and we love that it all started with a great book,” said Jessica Schein, Amazon.com Young Adult Books Editor. “These books appeal to customers of all ages — adults and teens alike — and you can see from our Top 20 list they’re captivating readers across the whole country. All three books in the trilogy are best sellers in print and on Kindle, and now our customers have made Suzanne Collins the best-selling Kindle author of all time.”

To celebrate the success of the book series, Amazon is giving away a Kindle Fire and the Hunger Games book trilogy to twelve lucky winners in the Amazon.com The Hunger Games Book Trilogy Sweepstakes. Customers can visit www.amazon.com/hungergames to learn more and enter for a chance to win, or to purchase any of the books. The sweepstakes ends March 25, 2012 and there is no purchase necessary to enter.

Read the full press release here.