All right, here me out here: I absolutely adore The Hunger Games. I think the book is exceptionally smart and sophisticated for young-adult fare, and the movie was entirely remarkable. However, they’re thinking of turning The Hunger Games into a theme park, and we’re going to discuss why that’s dumb after the blockquote from The A/V Club …
Lionsgate Entertainment is thinking about opening a Hunger Games amusement park, because nothing says “amusement” like a “kill or be killed” mentality. The company’s CEO, Jon Feltheimer, says the studio has been “approached in two territories about potential theme park opportunities” it’s currently pursuing. And while the general idea of a theme park makes sense for such a thriving franchise—The Hunger Games grossed $690 million last year alone—obviously, it’s difficult to see how it would translate into an attraction.
Now, let’s talk about this. Yes, The Hunger Games was sharp and poignant and entertaining, but it was also social commentary on class-warfare and celebrity worship. Turning it into a movie? Sure, that makes sense to me. Turning it into an amusement park and using it to promote sandwiches? Kind of feels like you’re missing the message here, especially since it’s called The HUNGER Games. The whole point of the book is that kids are forced to fight to the death just to feed themselves while the whole thing turned into a spectacle to placate the masses. Something about this feels like the writers’ point of view is being glazed over.