‘Hunger Games’ Prequel Novel Announced

If you're a fan of The Hunger Games, the odds were in your favor today.  Come on, you know I was going to say it.  Fans have been waiting for news about something new from this franchise every since Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) slipped up during an interview with Conan O'Brien at SDCC a few years ago.  So today's news was either exactly what you were hoping for, or a nice surprise.

Scholastic Publishing announced, via the Associated Press, that a prequel novel for the famed post apocalyptic series  from author Suzanne Collins would release May 19, 2020.  We know that the novel will be set in 64 years before the original trilogy.  All we know now is that the story will take place during the "Dark Days" and the failed rebellion in Panem.  Collins said in a statement that, “With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival,” she said. “The reconstruction period 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days — as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet — provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity.”

To me, this is exactly what needed to be done to continue this story.  Not just putting out a novel before a movie, but leaving the Katniss Everdeen story to rest for now.  We have seen a lot of franchise fatigue across the board this year, and even though the first book was released in 2008.  Keep in mind that it's only been about four years since Mockinjay: Part 2 was in theaters.  That is not a lot of distance, but that doesn't mean that fans haven't been itching for something new.  That's exactly what they will get, something new.  It would have been easy to place this story in the future, near or far, to continue the story that brought in millions and millions of dollars.  Instead we will find plenty of new names on the page, with the setting itself being the more familiar character.  If you do the math, that doesn't mean we won't see any characters from the original trilogy.  President Snow, who I'm sure wouldn't be President, is one name that comes to mind.  Even if you didn't recognize a single name on the page, would that really take away from your desire to read on?  To me, this is a brilliant move that can only increase the scope of the fandom.

The inevitable question of film rights has already come up, and no, we don't have any answers for that yet.  Lionsgate and Scholastic have yet to confirm that an agreement on those right have been reached.  I think it is safe to assume that, with the novel coming out in less than a year, this has been in the works for a while.  So when Hutcherson blurted out on Conan years ago that there would be more to the story, it's possible that this has been in the works (or at least being thought about) since that day.  The idea of a new movie is exciting, but I feel like this is definitely a bridge we need to cross when we come to it. Even though the idea of a prequel is a good one, that doesn't mean there aren't risks involved.  The book is sure to sell it's fair share of copies in it's first couple of weeks, but the story will have to deliver in order to have the same longevity and interest to go to screen.  I'm confident that Collins will be able to deliver, but will the novel age up with it's decades old fandom or try to also draw in a whole new fanbase?  We'll have to wait and see.

(Photo Credit: Scholastic)