Collins' Mockingjay Released; Hunger Games Movie Coming to Theaters Soon

Mockingjay is the third and final installment of the Hunger Games series of books by Suzanne Collins. The plot to Mockingjay has been shrouded in secrecy, and it was finally released at 12:01 August 24th. Advance copies of Mockingjay were not sent out for reviews, so there is very little information on what happens next to Katniss Everdeen, the main protaginst of the Hunger Games series. On thing is for sure, look for a continuation of Katniss's fight against the forces of the Capitol.

The title of the third installment, Mockingjay, comes from one of the genetically derived birds that are prevalent through the series. A Mockingjay is a combination of a Mockingbird and Jay that were created a spy birds.

In March 2009, Entertainment Weekly reported that Lionsgate purchased the movie rights to the popular teen book Hunger Games, this is the first in a popular tween series set in the future. In Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen lives in a coal mining region of North America, scrounging the forests, trading, and tries to keep her younger sister and mother fed.

After years of war and bloodshed, North America is broken up into Districts, and they much provide food and consumables for the Capitol which rules over all. One of the methods that the Capitol uses to stay in power is to demand tribute from each of the Districts in the form of one girl and one boy, who are ripped from their families and whisked away to the Capitol to fight in a competition to the death for the enjoyment of all the residents.

Hunger Games is a futuristic caper, with parallels to Mad Max, Gladiator, and the Twilight Series all rolled up in one. It has proved not only popular with the teen set, but also with adult readers as well. The book spent 100 consecutive weeks in the New York Times bestseller list. The second installment, Catching Fire debuted last year.

Lionsgate productions is no slouch when it comes to making movies. Recent hits released in theaters include The Expendables, Saw 3d.

Look for Hunger Games to be a hit with teens and adults alike. With the amount of present in the book, it may be a tough order to keep the movie at a PG-13 rating. Expect that the movie will not quite cover all of the material found in Hunger Games, as long as there is any hope of keeping a PG-13 rating.