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THE HUNGER GAMES

Written by

Gary Ross Suzanne Collins Billy Ray

FADE IN .•• on a PROLOGUE- words on a screen:

"The cause was a rebellion - called The Dark Days - the thirteen districts of Panem rising up against the Capitol.

The rebellion was crushed. One District, the 13th, was destroyed entirely. The other twelve barely survived.

When it was over, The Capitol decreed that those twelve Districts - as a brutal reminder of their treasonous rebellion - would forever suffer a punishment, once a year.

It was called The Hunger Games."

As those last words linger, we SMASHTO:

.•• a nightmare. Please, God, let it be a nightmare. We are:

EXT. ABANDONEDRESORT TOWN- DAY

We're RUNNINGthrough a battle-zone. BODIES right and left, strewn on a street. We keep running, dodging death itself.

An ARROWjust whizzed by us, barely missing, banging noisily into what used to be a newsstand. Another arrow buzzes past.

Running, desperate - hearing our own footsteps, our shallow breaths and groans of fear. There's another body on a sidewalk, semi-impaled. This is a perfect Hell.

It used to be Aspen - 300 years ago. Abandoned now, overgrown *

with foliage, decaying, dead.

We run around a corner, our heart rate spiking -- a KNIFE, hurtling at us out of nowhere. PFFFT! It buries itself into our left arm. The pain is searing. We falter ...

But we have to keep running, have to get to safety. Our eyes darting, looking for somewhere to hide--

Old Coffee Shops, Ski Rental Shops, Yogurt shops - skeletal now, covered in vegetation, their windows long since blown away. Death waiting inside all of them. Then:

A SPEAR, thrown from what used to be a second-story window. We DIVE OUT of its way. It just misses us. But we've landed on that wounded arm. More searing pain.

We get to our feet. Please let this end. Behind us we hear VOICES YELLING: "Get him!" We don't look back. Just can't. There's a corner up ahead. Safety. We reach it, turning •.•

.•. to find a WELL-BUILT KID of 17 awaiting us, with a SPIKED MACE in his arms. He swings it at us - at our head •••

3 •

. .. to find her sister, PRIMROSE EVERDEEN, (11, barely hanging * on to some innocence.) Prim quietly watches the Games. *

KATNISS I'm gonna go catch some dinner.

PRIM Can I come?

KATNISS It's sweet that you keep asking -

when you know I'm going to say no.

PRIM You're gonna have to teach me eventually, Katniss.

KATNISS "Eventually" is a long time from now, Prim. Look in on Mom.

Prim nods. Katniss drifts out of the Town Square, onto what was once a viable Main Street, bleak now. Behind her, 2, people keep watching The Games in a semi-hypnotic fog •

.•• except for one: PEETA MELLARK, a broad-shouldered boy of 16, whose eyes, now and forever, are following Katniss - as:

TEMPLESMITH (THRU TV) Yet another disappointment for the folks from Coal Country and their setted mentor, Haymitch Abernathy •••

INT. HAYMITCH'S QUARTERS - GAMES CENTER - SAME (DAY)

HAYMITCHABERNATHY,40, watches the broadcast from inside a *

fishbowl. The walls around him are WINDOWS,looking out on:

The GAMESCENTER, Mission Control for "The Hunger Games." Huge screens. Data. Dazzling technology.

Haymitch eyes it bitterly, slugs down some pale alcohol, as:

EXT. DISTRICT 12 OUTSKIRTS - MEADOW/FOREST- DAY

An untended MEADOWgives way to a large CHAIN-LINK FENCE that stretches on forever. On the other side of it, FOREST.

SIGNS line the fence: "No Trespassing Beyond This Point." "Violators Will Be Electrocuted." "Poaching is a Felony."

Katniss, unimpressed, throws a stick at the fence. Nothing happens. She crawls under it, scooting in unharmed.

4 •

EXT. FOREST - DAY

She heads for a felled LOG, reaches into its hollow. Feeling for something, then extracts it:

A BOW, and ARROWS,wrapped in a sheath of plastic.

EXT. FOREST - CLEARING - DAY

Katniss is a born hunter. A born climber too. With her bow and arrow slung on her back, she climbs a tall tree, navigating the branches like a monkey.

EXT. TREE - BRANCH- CONTINUING

She settles, 30 feet up. Great vantage-point. And there it is, below - a WILD TURKEY. Katniss draws back her bow •..

EXT. ANOTHERCLEARING - LATER DAY

The dead turkey has been tied to a stick, resting by Katniss's side. She's behind a ROCK, scouting her next kill:

Two large gray RABBITS. Maybe 30 yards from here. Katniss lines one up, draws back her bow. Tension in the string .••

. .• when, suddenly, a HANDis placed over mouth. Someone has just come up behind her, out of nowhere. A BOY, whispering:

GALE ("BOY") You're good. But I'm still better.

This is GALE HAWTHORNE,17, her best friend/hunting partner. * Handsome, dark-haired, he loves being with her, (more than * he'd ever admit, even to himself.) Loves teasing her. *

••• until she bites his finger, playfully. *

GALE (CONT'D) OW!

KATNISS How do you do that? How do you move without making a sound?

GALE I'm lightfooted.

KATNISS Get to work •

She gestures to the two large rabbits, drawing back her bow. Gale draws his as well. They fire at the same time •••

GALE (CONT'D) Don't bother. It's too •.. (she's already gone) High.

Katniss is halfway up the tree. Gale sighs, to himself:

GALE (CONT'D) Or we could just stay out here •..

KATNISS Oh. I almost forgot. (tony Capitol accent:) Happy Hunger Garnes! And may the odds be--

GALE --ever in your favor •••

She climbs, disappearing up that impossibly-tall tree.

EXT. ANOTHERCLEARING - LATER DAY

They head for the electric fence with their haul. Katniss spots something - bends down for it:

6 •

Purple berries, growing at the base of a tree. She eyes them, then picks a few, putting them into the pouch on her hip.

Gale watches her •.. silent .•• until:

GALE We could do it, ya know.

KATNISS Do what?

GALE

Leave the District. Stay out here, in the woods. We could make it.

KATNISS Who'd take care of Prim? And my morn?

GALE No, I don't mean now. Obviously. I mean, when Prim got older.

KATNISS Didn't really think this through - did you?

She's trying to diffuse it. He reddens a bit.

GALE Unless you'd rather move into town and marry a coal-miner. Or a baker. Have ten kids or something.

KATNISS These are my options? (Gale's silent) And I'm never having kids. With anybody. Not in this world. But thanks.

7 •

They share a look ••• until an odd SILENCE suddenly falls •••

The birds in the forest stop singing. Nothing moves. Eerie.

••• Then a BLUR, racing past us in sheer terror.

It's a RED-HAIRED GIRL, (her name's LAVINIA), Katniss's age, * but dressed differently. Running for her life now. *

KATNISS (CONT'D) What was--

That fast, Lavinia is gone, racing for the fence. Katniss and * Gale whip around, to see what's chasing the poor kid.

There's nothing back there •

••. until they hear it, from above •.• A HOVERCRAFT.Huge, its propwash blowing treetops sideways over the fleeing Lavinia. *

Katniss and Gale hide behind a rock-shelf, watching, as the VOICE of an UNSEEN OFFICIAL booms from inside the craft:

UNSEEN VOICE Surrender! You are to be returned to * The Capitol for adjudication! *

Lavinia is frantic, almost at the fence •.• when a GIANT NET * drops from the hovercraft like a rock, enveloping her.

She looks to Katniss and Gale, her eyes desperate. Help me ... Gale starts to rise - but Katniss yanks him back down.

KATNISS They'll kill you.

Before Gale can reply, the net tightens, yanking Lavinia into * the air. And she's GONE, into the Hovercraft, abducted in mere seconds. Katniss just stares. We DISSOLVE TO:

PEETA (CONT'D)

I'll see ya, Katniss.

9 •

KATNISS *

'Night, Peeta. Thanks. *

He drifts off. She goes in the opposite direction. Gale, not *

far from here, takes note, then returns to his trading. *

We FOLLOWKATNISS, through this warehouse of starving crumb- *

sellers, when something catches her eye: *

Corrina, the woman who lost a son this morning, sitting on a *

stool, her eyes haunted - as her husband TYGARThawks some *

meager-looking CHESTNUTS. *

Tygart is in a fog, but Corrina is catatonic. Katniss pauses, *

torn .•. then makes a decision. She passes by Tygart, and: *

KATNISS *

These'll help her sleep. My mom takes *

'em. *

She hands over two of the PURPLE BERRIES she picked today - *

and she's gone ••. before Tygart can even say thank you. *

EXT. DISTRICT 12 - PEERLESS STREET - NIGHT (^) *

Katniss pulls a rickety wagon over cinder streets. A TRAIN *

rumbles outside town, loaded with coal. On its side: "District 12 Coal - Powering the Capitol for 300 Years."

There are no streetlights on - no power to feed them - but *

that HUGE TV in the Town square is on, as always ... beaming The Hunger Games, death as entertainment. A CROWDwatches.

Katniss walks by without looking up.

EXT. HOLLER ST. - KATNISS'S HOME- NIGHT *

Small, crammed in, untended. Katniss leaves her wagon in the * yard, where a small GOAT is tethered. *

INT. KATNISS'S HOME- NIGHT

Dusty, unkempt. At a table sits MRS. EVERDEEN. She's 40 but *

looks 60, deadened by grief and fear. Katniss enters. *

KATNISS *

I'm home.

PRIM Katniss!

Prim runs in, hugs her older sister. The bond here is deep.

KATNISS Look what I traded for. *

Katniss holds up TWOTHREADBARECOATS she traded for today. *

PRIM Whoa! Coats!

KATNISS Yours are both so worn. Let me see if it fits.

Prim throws hers on. She's swimming in it.

PRIM Perfect!

KATNISS Mom?

No reply. Katniss crosses to Mrs. Everdeen. A cat, BUTTERCUP, * (mashed-in face, half an ear missing) jumps in the way. *

KATNISS (CONT'D) Move, Buttercup.

PRIM Be sweet with him.

KATNISS Why, did he catch a mouse today? Did he do anything useful? (Buttercup hisses a bit) Another mouth to feed.

She pushes Buttercup aside without much fanfare, then puts the other coat across her mom's shoulders. No reaction.

PRIM What about you, Katniss?

KATNISS Mine's fine. Stand up, Mom. Let me see.

MRS. EVERDEEN

I don't like you going to The Hob. (Katniss rolls her eyes) Peacekeepers're gonna shut it down eventually.

---

PRIM Will you sing it?

KATNISS Which one?

PRIM The one Dad always sang?

KATNISS And then you'll sleep?

PRIM I promise.

Katniss clears her throat, then:

KATNISS

Deep in the Meadow/Under a willow/

A bed of grass/A soft green pillow/

Lay down your head/Close your sleepy

eyes/When they open again/The Sun

will rise •••

Prim's eyes close. We DRIFT THROUGHthis home •.• to find:

Mrs. Everdeen is across the room, wide awake, listening •..

KATNISS (CONT'D)

Here it's safe/Here it's warm/

Daisies guard you from every harm/

Dreams are sweet/They all come true/

Here is the place where I love you.

Mrs. Everdeen quietly weeps - pure dread. We GO TO BLACK:

••• over which, a SUPER: "One Year Later." Then SMASHTO:

EXT. LOCATIONUNKNOWN- MORNING

INSERTS, in rapid fire:

A COMBATKNIFE - placed on what looks like a brass table-top.

A SPEAR - lain carefully beside the knife.

A SPIKED MACE stands against a sheer wall.

Lastly, a BOWand ARROWSare hung on a hook. Someone is preparing an arena for The Hunger Games. We CUT TO:

13 •

EXT. FOREST - LOCATIONUNKNOWN- MORNING

A pack of WILD DOGS prowls menacingly. These things are HUGE, the size of bulls. With fangs and hungry eyes.

But they're being tracked - by a pair of HUNTINGRIFLES, 200 yards away. Darts are chambered into each rifle ... as: *

INT. CAPITOL - GAMESCENTER - MORNING

SENECA CRANE, a dark genius, looks over his domain. *

This is Mission Control, (seen from the windows surrounding * Haymitch's quarters last year.) It's NASA on steroids: huge screens, data, massive electronic coverage.

On an ILLUMINATEDBOARDwe see 24 EMPTY SLOTS, two for every * District. Names will go here; two from District 12 .•• Seneca * eyes it, then spots something that irritates him greatly: *

An assistant, BETTO, is virtually drawing on a monitor (it's * a hobby) - unaware that Seneca is in the vicinity •.• until * Seneca leans in and angrily deletes Bette's screen. Uh-oh. *

SENECA * You're here to work, Bette. (Bette gulps) Unless you think all those Tributes

are just going to kill themselves.

He walks away. Bette's too shaken to blink.

INT. KATNISS'S HOME- MORNING

A quiet, somber feeling in here, like dressing for a funeral. Katniss steps into a worn blue dress. Prim, now 12, tucks a white blouse into a skirt. Their mother opens a wooden box.

MRS. EVERDEEN I thought you might like to wear this, Prim.

She shows Prim a GOLD MOCKINGJAYPIN. Beautiful.

PRIM Why do we have to dress up for the reaping?

MRS. EVERDEEN It's expected. (offering the pin) Take it. Dad loved rnockingjays.

UNNAMEDPEACEKEEPER All candidates stand with the others in their age group! Twelve year-olds here! Thirteens here!

•.. as we realize that the only people in this Square are CHILDREN. 12 to 18. Adults stand outside the ropes.

Mrs. Everdeen is one of them, staring blankly.

Katniss guides Prim through. ANOTHERPEACKEEPERsteps in.

KATNISS She's twelve.

He tugs Prim away. She calls out to Katniss, desperately: *

PRIM They call your name - you run, okay?

KATNISS I'll see you at dinner. Dress casual.

A reassuring smile - it helps - until Prim is led into the herd of twelve year-olds, waiting together. Katniss turns away, passing one tense teenage face after another, as:

MAYORUNDERSEEspeaks into the microphone on the podium:

MAYOR UNDERSEE My Friends of District Twelve, in anticipation of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games, I welcome you to Reaping Day •••

Tepid applause. His speech continues, in b.g., as Katniss drifts through. Not far from here are the EIGHTTEENS, maybe 200 kids, trying not to look terrified. Gale is among them.

It's just a look between him and Katniss, but it's loaded: "I *

hope it's not you." Gale smiles a thin smile. Katniss turns

away, finds her place in the herd of SIXTEENS. *

Plenty of posturing around her, all of it hiding terror. *

MAYORUNDERSEE (CONT'D) This Day, like The Games themselves, provides us a chance to reflect on the costs of our violent rebellion all those years ago, and to be grateful for the kindness now shown to us by the Capitol. It's a time for both repentance and for thanks.

Behind Undersee on the stage is EFFIE TRINKET, (her suit lime- green, her hair pink.) Beside her is an empty chair ... until:

HAYMITCH 'Scuse me. Sorry to be late.

Haymitch Abernathy stumbles on to the stage, inebriated. The TV CAMERASZOOMIN on him ... as Mayor Undersee continues:

MAYORUNDERSEE By law, each District is required to send one boy and one girl into the Games each year. 24 young people, fighting to the death until one emerges victorious - bringing great pride, and great material reward, to his or her District. Joining me now on stage is the only Tribute from our fair District to have ever done so. Please welcome Haymitch Abernathy.

Haymitch rises drunkenly and gives the mayor an enthusiastic slap on the back. But when he tries to hug Effie, he ends up lurching across her and slamming into the empty chair.

And it all just went out LIVE, across Panem. The kids stifle nervous laughter.

... as Effie, tight-lipped but professional, straightens her wig. And Mayor Undersee does his best to go on.

MAYORUNDERSEE (CONT'D) I'm sure whoever's chosen today will - under Haymitch's steady guidance - represent our District well.

Katniss tightens. Another look to Gale.

MAYORUNDERSEE (CONT'D)

Now it's my privilege to introduce our tributes' escort. Joining us from the Capitol, Miss Effie Trinket.

One hand steadying her wig, Effie trots to the podium. Bright and bubbly, she speaks in a stilted Capitol accent.

EFFIE Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be EVER in your favor! I know you're all excited, so let's get right to the drawing! Boys first this year!

Nobody breathes. Hardened coal mining families - terrified.

PRIM

Katniss?

The Square is deathly SILENT. No one can believe what they just heard. Mrs. Everdeen staggers. Gale just stares, dazed:

GALE (mumbled, to no one) But ••• her name was only in there once.

And here's Prim, lost, surrounded by TWELVEYEAR-OLDS.••

PRIM (CONT'D) Katniss?

---

Katniss slumps backward, dumb-struck. ANOTHERGIRL steadies * her. Everything's spinning. Then she sees - dimly - TWOMORE PEACEKEEPERSbulling their way through the 12 year-olds... *

Prim's face fills the huge tv screens - a lost little girl, * her head swimming. The Peacekeepers begin to pull her away.

And all Prim can think to do is tuck in that loose shirttail again as she's tugged through the crowd ••• We PUSH IN on Katniss, the world crashing around her - until:

KATNISS (top of her lungs) I volunteert

Hold it. Everything just stopped again. All eyes - even those of the cameras - now find Katniss .•• whose voice seems to be operating on its own.

KATNISS (CONT'D) I volunteer as tributet

No one replies. On the faces of Gale, Peeta, Effie, everyone - shock. Katniss heads for the stage, almost in a trance.

GALE

Katniss •••

Katniss keeps walking - all eyes on her - nearing her sister, who is too dazed to reply. Can barely mutter:

PRIM No ...

Katniss walks right past her. Peeta watches from the stage.

KATNISS My name is Katniss Everdeen. I'll represent District Twelve.

EFFIE Well, bravo! Brava! Quite a gesture! And there's nothing in the rules forbidding it, is there Hayrnitch?

Hayrnitch, his drunken brain catching up, shakes his head.

So Katniss keeps corning ... even as Prim grabs her.

PRIM No, Katniss! No! You can't!

KATNISS (pulling herself free) It's okay, Prim.

PRIM (not letting go) You can't! I won't let you!

All of it going out LIVE. Gale steps forward. His eyes meet Katniss's - another loaded moment - and he does what she's begging him to do ..• pulling Prim away.

GALE I've got her.

The Peacekeepers lead Katniss away. Prim shrieks, crying:

PRIM No! Don't take her! Don't!

Gale carries Prim off as Katniss mounts the steps.

EFFIE I bet my buttons that was your sister, wasn't it! Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we? Let's give a big round of applause for our latest tribute!

No one claps. Instead, they do something else - a gesture:

In unison, the people here touch the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and then hold it out to her. It is a gesture of immense respect. Also a fond farewell •

Katniss acknowledges it silently from the stage. Then the NATIONAL ANTHEM begins to play through LOUDSPEAKERS.