The Hunger Games, the franchise based on a televised battle to the death between children, will be the inspiration for a string of attractions at a new chain of theme parks to be licensed by film studio Lionsgate, according to the New York Times.
The first Hunger Games ride, part of the Motiongate theme park in Dubai, will allow fans of the dystopian blockbusters to wander through a recreation of Hunger Games hero Katniss Everdeen’s neighbourhood, the impoverished mining region District 12. Guests will be greeted by actors dressed as District 12’s downtrodden inhabitants and get the chance to visit locations such as the Hob black market and Peeta Mellark’s bakery, shown in the first film as a rundown shack with a leaky roof and resident pig. Other rides will include a “lavish” rollercoaster, built to imitate the train in which Katniss and Peeta make the journey to the Capitol and their meeting with almost certain death.
Lionsgate, who will license their film properties to outside developers, have announced plans for other Hunger Games attractions in theme parks in China and the US. They are also offering developers the rights to develop attractions based on the Step Up dance franchise, Divergent – another teen franchise set in a dystopian future and Now You See Me, the thriller starring Jesse Eisenberg about a troupe of magicians who attempt a heist. Plans for rides based on the Twilight saga are also in the works.
The Hunger Games films, which star Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and are based on the bestselling young adult novels by Suzanne Collins, have proved a massive draw, with the most recent film, Mockingjay – Part 1, taking over $250m in its opening weekend at the global box office in November 2014. The four-part franchise comes to a close with the release of Mockingjay – Part 2 on 20 November. The final film will see Katniss, free of the games and with an army at her back, take the people’s fight to the oppressive overlords of the Capitol.
