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 (film) some viewers saw "The Hunger Games" as a Christian allegory. Jeffrey Weiss of Real Clear Religion, published in the "Star Tribune" has remarked on what he saw as the intentional absence of religion in "The Hunger Games" universe, and has commented that while the stories contain no actual religion, people are "find[ing] aspects that represent their own religious values" within it. Charles McGrath, writing for "The New York Times", said that the film will remind viewers of the television series "Survivor", a little of "The Bachelorette", and of the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson published in 1948 by