<Tr> <Th> Language </Th> <Td> English </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $78 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $694.4 million </Td> </Tr> <P> The Hunger Games is a 2012 American post-apocalyptic science fiction action adventure film directed by Gary Ross and based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins . It is the first installment in The Hunger Games film series and was produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, with a screenplay by Ross, Collins, and Billy Ray . The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland . The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem, which is divided into 12 districts, where a boy and a girl from each district, between the ages of 12 and 18 must take part in The Hunger Games, a televised annual event in which the "tributes" of each district are required to fight to the death until there is only one survivor . Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her younger sister's place . With her district's male tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss travels to the Capitol to train for the Hunger Games under the guidance of former victor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson). </P>

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