First part of a Trilogy series of young adult books by Suzanne Collins: 'The Hunger Games', 'Catching Fire', 'Mockingjay'.

Chloë Grace Moretz, Mary Mouser, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Lyndsy Fonseca, 'Jodelle Ferland', Saoirse Ronan, Emma Roberts, Kaya Scodelario, Emily Browning and Shailene Woodley were considered to play Katniss, the lead role. Jennifer Lawrence won the role.

Alex Pettyfer, Josh Hutcherson, Lucas Till, Nico Tortorella, Alexander Ludwig, Evan Peters and Hunter Parrish were considered to play Peeta Mellark. Hutcherson was later cast.

Liam Hemsworth, Chris Massoglia, David Henrie, Robbie Amell and Drew Roy were considered to play Gale. Hemsworth was ultimately cast.

Jennifer Lawrence was initially cast as the lead in Savages, but dropped out to do this film instead.

Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence, both natural blondes, dyed their hair brown for their roles in the film while Josh Hutcherson, naturally dark-haired, dyed his hair blonde for his part.

Composer Danny Elfman left the film due to a scheduling conflict and was replaced by James Newton Howard.

Despite its high popularity with teenagers and adults, Lionsgate has admitted that the chances of Catching Fire and Mockingjay being converted into films all depend on the money that 'The Hunger Games' makes.

On February 22nd, four weeks before The Hunger Games' release, Lionsgate began selling advance tickets. Not only did the ticket sales break the one-day record originally held by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, but also accounted for 83% of the ticket sales of the day.

The name of the main character, Katniss, is derived from the name of a group of edible plant species, genus "Sagittaria", commonly known as "arrowhead". This is a reference to the character's archery skills.

The fictional nation in the film is called Panem. This is derived from "Panem et Circenses," or "Bread and Circuses," which comes from the latter days of the Roman Empire, in which the government would keep the masses satisfied not by performing their public services well, but by providing violent and deadly entertainments for the people to watch, which is rather fitting for the subject matter of the film.

The director has stated that his decision to go with shaky cam work, "had a lot to do with the urgency of what's going on and to reflect protagonist Katniss Everdeen's point of view."

This is not the first time actors Jennifer Lawrence and Paula Malcomson (Katniss and Mrs Everdeen) have worked together playing mother and daughter. The previous time was in the "Cold Case"(2003)_ episode, 'A Dollar, A Dream' in which Malcomson plays a homeless mother struggling to support her two children.

During a New York Magazine interview, Wes Bentley said that the extremely unusual beard he wore as Seneca was styled from his own real beard, not created from applied pieces or extra hair. Bentley said that while he was in North Carolina filming the movie, he would often go to the local Target (a national department store chain) to buy things like baby formula while still sporting the "Seneca beard."

The second movie in two years (after Winter's Bone) in which Jennifer Lawrence plays a character who feeds her destitute family and herself partly by catching and killing squirrels.

While horsing around on the set, Jennifer Lawrence accidentally kicked Josh Hutchersonin the head, knocking him out and resulting in a concussion.

The four-note melody that Katniss uses as her signal with Rue (and at the end of most trailers) is re-fa-mi-do in solfege.

Though she appeared in all three books, and was featured prominently in the movie, actress Elizabeth Banks's character's name, Effie Trinket, was never mentioned in the movie.

Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence have all stated that when/if the next books are converted they will come back to reprise their roles.

Wilhelm scream: can be heard from one of the victims when Katniss Everdeen cuts off a tree branch and the nest of tracker jackers fall onto some of her opponents.