The Hunger Games By the time the film adaptation of "The Hunger Games" was released in 2012, the publisher had reported over 26 million "Hunger Games" trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books. "The Hunger Games" universe is a dystopia set in Panem, a country consisting of the wealthy Capitol and 12 districts in varying states of poverty. Every year, children from the districts are selected to participate in a compulsory televised battle royale death match called The Hunger Games. The novels were all well received. In August 2012, the series ranked second, exceeded only by the "Harry Potter" series in NPR's
The Hunger Games (novel) had sold 800,000 copies by February 2010. Since its release, "The Hunger Games" has been translated into 26 languages, and publishing rights have been sold in 38 territories. The novel is the first in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, followed by "Catching Fire" (2009) and "Mockingjay" (2010). A film adaptation, directed by Gary Ross and co-written and co-produced by Collins herself, was released in 2012. Collins has said that the inspiration for "The Hunger Games" came from channel surfing on television. On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the invasion