Lionsgate has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film version of Suzanne Collins' best selling futuristic young adult novel THE HUNGER GAMES. Collins will adapt the screenplay from her novel, the first in a trilogy.
Nina Jacobson is producing through her Color Force shingle.
THE HUNGER GAMES was published by Scholastic last year. The trilogy's second installment, CATCHING FIRE, is due out September 1, 2009.
Lionsgate President of Motion Picture Production, Alli Shearmur, will oversee the production for the studio, along with Lionsgate SVP of Motion Picture Production, Jim Miller.
In the book, a dystopic Capitol requires its 12 subjugated districts to pay tribute in the form of a teenage boy and girl who are forced to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. When Katniss Everdeen's little sister is chosen in the lottery, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Although persevering through hardship is commonplace for Katniss, she must start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love in order to win the games and return home.
