The Hunger Games: Books vs. Movies
The five Hunger Games movies, released between 2012 and 2023, are adapted from Suzanne Collins's four books, published between 2008 and 2020. Each book has its own page here; this is the series as a whole.
From Books Adapted
How much of the book it covers
Mockingjay takes two movies; the other books take one
The first four movies complete Katniss' three-book story. The later movies return to earlier Hunger Games.
| Movie | Book adapted |
|---|---|
| The Hunger Games (2012) | The Hunger Games (book 1), covering its main story. |
| The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) | Catching Fire (book 2), covering its main story. |
| The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) | The first part of Mockingjay (book 3). |
| The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) | The rest of Mockingjay, including its ending and epilogue. |
| The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) | The prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, covering its main story in one movie. |
| The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (2026)* | The prequel Sunrise on the Reaping. |
* Sunrise on the Reaping is unreleased and scheduled for November 20, 2026.
The original trilogy and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes have been adapted. Sunrise on the Reaping is the remaining published book awaiting its movie. Its events precede Katniss' story by 24 years.
What changed from the book
Madge's gift becomes a bond between the sisters
In the first book, Katniss gets the mockingjay pin from Madge. The movie leaves Madge out. A woman at the black market gives Katniss the pin. Katniss gives it to Prim, then receives it back before leaving for the Games.
Producer Jon Kilik said the change avoided introducing extra characters and kept the story moving.
How it was adapted
The first movie lets us see what Katniss cannot
The original trilogy stays inside Katniss' first-person account. The first movie adds private conversations between President Snow and Seneca Crane, along with scenes in the Games' control room.
Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins developed new material together while working on the screenplay. Ross used Snow and Crane to show a disagreement within the Capitol: Crane treats the Games as entertainment, while Snow understands their use as political control.
Every movie has its own page
Vote on them one at a time: each has its own question, results and comments.
- Book 1
The Hunger GamesMovie, 2012 · Directed by Gary Ross · 2 hr 22 minFrom The Hunger Games · 2008 · 397 pagesGary Ross’s 2012 film The Hunger Games is adapted from Suzanne Collins’s 2008 novel. Both follow Katniss from District 12 into the Capitol’s deadly arena.Which was better? Vote - Book 2
The Hunger Games: Catching FireMovie, 2013 · Directed by Francis Lawrence · 2 hr 26 minFrom Catching Fire · 2009 · 400 pagesFrancis Lawrence’s 2013 film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire adapts Suzanne Collins’s 2009 novel. Both follow Katniss and Peeta from their victory tour toward the Quarter Quell as rebellion spreads across Panem.Which was better? Vote - Book 3
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1Movie, 2014 · Directed by Francis Lawrence · 2 hr 3 minFrom Mockingjay · 2010 · 400 pagesFrancis Lawrence’s 2014 film Mockingjay – Part 1 adapts the first portion of Suzanne Collins’s 2010 novel. Katniss becomes the reluctant symbol of a rebellion growing from District 13.Which was better? Vote - Book 3
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2Movie, 2015 · Directed by Francis Lawrence · 2 hr 17 minFrom Mockingjay · 2010 · 400 pagesFrancis Lawrence’s 2015 film Mockingjay – Part 2 adapts the concluding portion of Suzanne Collins’s 2010 novel. Katniss joins the rebel advance on the Capitol as the war for Panem reaches its final stage.Which was better? Vote - Book 4
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesMovie, 2023 · Directed by Francis Lawrence · 2 hr 38 minFrom The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes · 2020 · 528 pagesFrancis Lawrence’s 2023 film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes adapts Suzanne Collins’s 2020 novel. Both follow young Coriolanus Snow as he mentors District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird during an early Hunger Games.Which was better? Vote
The books, in order
Details
- Author
- Suzanne Collins
- Year
- 2008
- Pages
- 397
- Audiobook length
- 10 hr 35 min
- Narrator
- Tatiana Maslany
- Series
- The Hunger Games, book 1
In Panem, the Capitol forces each district to send two children into a televised fight to the death. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers in place of her younger sister, she enters the arena with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark and must decide how far she will go to survive without becoming part of the spectacle the Capitol wants.
Details
- Author
- Suzanne Collins
- Year
- 2009
- Pages
- 400
- Audiobook length
- 11 hr 3 min
- Narrator
- Tatiana Maslany
- Series
- The Hunger Games, book 2
After surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return home as uneasy symbols of defiance against the Capitol. President Snow demands that they quiet the unrest spreading through Panem, but their victory tour only reveals how widely rebellion has taken hold and how determined the Capitol is to control them.
Details
- Author
- Suzanne Collins
- Year
- 2010
- Pages
- 400
- Audiobook length
- 11 hr 19 min
- Narrator
- Tatiana Maslany
- Series
- The Hunger Games, book 3
After surviving the Quarter Quell, Katniss Everdeen is taken to the underground District 13, where rebel leaders want her to become the Mockingjay, the public face of their uprising against the Capitol. With District 12 destroyed and Peeta held by President Snow, Katniss must decide how much of herself she is willing to surrender to a revolution whose leaders also see her as a weapon.
Details
- Author
- Suzanne Collins
- Year
- 2020
- Pages
- 528
- Audiobook length
- 16 hr 16 min
- Narrator
- Santino Fontana
- Series
- The Hunger Games, book 4
Years before he becomes president of Panem, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from impoverished District 12, in the tenth Hunger Games. Her talent for winning an audience may restore his family’s fading status, but helping her survive draws Snow into choices that test where his loyalties and ambitions truly lie.
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