The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
In recent years we have seen a string of young adult novels adapted for the big screen, while some have sunk without a trace a handful have turned into monster movies and franchises.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the latest young adult novel to be adapted as Jennifer Lawrence is set to reprise the role of Katniss Everdeen this week. To celebrate the film’s release we look at how some of the most high profile young adult adaptations have faired at the box office.
- Harry Potter Franchise - $7,723,431,572 billion
Harry Potter is one of the biggest and most popular book series that it was inevitable that they would be turned into films. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released back in 2001 and it turned Daniel Radcliffe into a global star.
Te Philosopher’s Stone was a massive box office hit as it went on to gross over $974 million at the worldwide box office. Over the next ten years, all of J.K. Rowling’s novels got the big screen treatment, as Harry Potter became the most successful film franchise of all time.
The critics may not have always been singing the praises of the films, but the fans flocked to see each and every release. The eight films have grossed over $7.7 billion and really showed that young adult fiction could enjoy huge film success.
- The Twilight Saga Franchise - $3,345,177,904 billion
Stephenie Meyer is another author who has thrilled literary fans with her tales of vampires and werewolves with The Twilight Saga series of novels.
In 2008, Twilight hit the big screen as unknowns Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart took on the central roles of lovers Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.
Twilight fever swept the globe over the next few years as adaptations of New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn all hit the big screen - Breaking Dawn was split into two movies.
The four films grossed over $3.3 billion at the box office, however, none of the movies broke the $1 billion barrier.
- The Hunger Games Franchise - $691,247,768 million
This week will see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hit the big screen and will mark the half way point in the franchise; there are still two movies to come over the next couple of years.
The Hunger Games hit the big screen for the first time last year as Jennifer Lawrence landed the role of heroine Katniss Everdeen - the role that turned her into a star.
The Hunger Games was one of the most successful films of 2012 as the movie grossed over $691 million worldwide. Catching Fire is also set to be one of the biggest films of 2013, with some predicting the film will get close to the $1 billion barrier.
Filming on Mockingjay is currently underway and those movies will be released over the next two years.
- The Chronicles of Narnia - $1,580,364,900 billion
The Chronicles of Narnia is often overlooked when it comes to young adult novels that have been turned into films - hard to believe when the series has enjoyed so much box office success.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe was released in 2005 and saw Andrew Adamson in the director’s chair.
The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe thrust William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley took on the roles of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, while Liam Neeson and Tilda Swinton were also on the cast list
The movie went on to be a massive box office success - resulting in Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to be adapted for the big screen. The Chronicles of Narnia franchise has grossed over $1.5 billion.
- Percy Jackson - $419,090,049
Percy Jackson is a creation of writer Rick Riordan, and was the protagonist of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series of novels.
In 2010, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief hit the big screen as Logan Lerman took on the title role - it was to be the movie that made him a star.
Directed by Chris Columbus, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief mixed fantasy, mythology and action in a movie that really was a lot of fun. It grossed over $226 million at the box office.
Earlier this year Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters hit the big screen; however, it struggled with the critics and was not as successful as the first film.
- The Mortal Instruments - $75,965,567 million
At the beginning of 2013, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was being tipped as the franchise that could possibly replace Twilight.
The Mortal Instruments series of novels were written by Cassandra Clare and follow Clary Fray, a teenage who is plunged into a world of angels and demons that she didn’t even know existed.
Harald Zwart was in the director’s chair, while Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Lena Headey and Jonathan Rhys Meyers made up a stellar international cast list.
Sadly, the movie did not perform as well at the box office as expected as it grossed only $75.9 million; only just making back it’s $60 million budget. Despite this disappointment, it looks like City of Ashes will go into production.
- The Perks of Being A Wallflower - $33,384,127
Great young adult book adaptations don’t just come in the form of big budget blockbusters, as The Perks of Being A Wallflower is an absolute gem.
The movie is a big screen adaptation of the Stephen Chbosky novel of the same name, a movie that saw Chbosky make his directorial debut.
Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller, the movie follows an introverted freshman who is taken under the win of two seniors.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower is a fantastic adaptation of what is a wonderful, poignant and hard-hitting coming of age novel.
The movie was made for a rather modest $13 million, but went on to gross over $33 million by the end of the theatrical run.
Over the next year, we are going to be seeing whole host of other films in this genre with the likes of Divergent, The Maze Runner and Seventh Son all set for release. Just how well are they going to do at the box office?
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is out now.
Tagged in Twilight The Hunger Games