Hunger Games Cast Graces Hollywood Reporter Cover

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From budgets and salaries, to the accident that sent star Jennifer Lawrence to the hospital, the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter features director Gary Ross and never-revealed details about the fast-approaching pop culture phenomenon, in theaters March 23.

The first of four parts in Suzanne Collins‘ massively popular three-book series The Hunger Games, about two dozen children randomly chosen to compete for survival, opens March 23 on more than 4,000 screens across the country (as with Twilight and Harry Potter, the final book will be split into two films). The film’s reception could determine whether its stars — Jennifer Lawrence, 21; Josh Hutcherson, 19; and Liam Hemsworth, 22 — ascend to Kristen Stewart-Robert Pattinson-Taylor Lautner superstardom and fill the gap opening as Twilight heads toward its final chapter.

For Lionsgate, which has struggled recently at the box office (Abduction, Conan the Barbarian), Games is its first major test since acquiring Summit Entertainment, the studio behind The Twilight Saga franchise, in January — a move that yokes together execs responsible for the most recent youth phenomenon with those hoping to launch the next. Games’ success could impact the future of many at Lionsgate, all eager to claim credit for the Collins adaptation, now that the film division has named Summit’s Robert Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger to run it.

“After the trailer launched Nov. 14, we had 8 million views in the first 24 hours,” says Lionsgate Films president Joe Drake. “We were the number one Twitter trend on the planet. Since then, the book sales have jumped 7.5 million copies. That kind of data gives us enormous confidence.”

Hollywood Reporter executive editor, features, Stephen Galloway, was tasked with talking to director Gary Ross and cast on the cusp of their potential superstardom. The Oscar-nominated Ross and others close to the movie revealed many previously unknown secrets surrounding the highly-anticipated film.