For many teenagers 2012 was a monumental year when the first installment of The Hunger Games, based on the books by Suzanne Collins, was released in March, and now they prepare for the final installment set to be released November 20. Many Big Spring students were still in middle school when the first movie was released, and now many are upperclassmen and ready to graduate. It was a worldwide phenomenon that teenagers took a liking to. Dozens of Big Spring students read The Hunger Games trilogy and were instantly hooked.

With movies now releasing late Thursday night instead of Friday night, students are beginning to go Thursday to be the first to see it. Kaylyn Houck said, “We usually go to the Thursday midnight premiere decked out in all of our Hunger Games merchandise and the people in the theater always hate us because we talk through the whole thing critiquing it, but in the end talking about how ‘beautiful’ it was (yes we are those people). That’s the plan this year too!” Some may say waiting every year for the next installment has become a tradition of sorts. With its release date just days before the Thanksgiving break, a trip to the movies is the perfect way to kick off the holidays.

Senior Tiffany Lehman has been hooked on this trilogy from the very beginning. “Every year when the movie is released,  I go and attend the showings with my friends and her mom. I am hoping that Mockingjay Part 2 will create an intense final chapter for Katniss and Peeta.” Everyone who is a fan of this trilogy is expecting something different for the ending. Houck said, “It’s relatable. Not that we ever fight to the death with other teenagers, but Katniss’s battle with being a leader and a follower lets you experience her inward battle right along with her. As a teenager you get to grow up with her a little bit. Just like teenagers here, relationships are important and that’s apparent to the characters in The Hunger Games. I’m expecting Mockingjay Part 2 to be a lot of action. Mockingjay Part 1 was kind of like a filler movie so not a whole lot actually happened so I feel like the majority of the action that happens in the book will happen in this movie.” It is hopeful that not just the final installment but the entire trilogy lives up to Suzanne Collin’s books.

There is still some debate whether the book is better than the movie or vice versa. Many will say the book always wins, hands down.  Lehman said, “I think the books created a more powerful setting for the events.” Houck also agrees that the books trump the movie. “I prefer the books because I love reading, and I think they were well written and the fact that I fell in love with the books before the movies were even thought of. I think that they have portrayed the books into films well and certainly as a lover of the books I have so far been satisfied with the adaptations.”

Since The Hunger Games epidemic broke out in 2012, many other trilogies have captured students attention. The Divergent and The Maze Runner trilogies have also made their big screen debut since the release of The Hunger Games. After the debut of Twilight in 2008 and the last installment Breaking Dawn Part 2 in 2012, The Hunger Games stole the show for teens addiction to books turned movies.