Fans, wait no longer.
The Hunger Games have arrived.
“We read the books. The book were phenomenal,” said Parma resident Margarita Alex. “It’s going to be crazy to the books come to real life.”
Alex purchased her tickets to beat the late-night rush at Cinemark in Cleveland. More than 2,000 theaters have sold out for midnight screenings across the country.
“I’m not surprised to hear that at all,” Alex said. “It really isn’t about things like wizards, like I’ve said before, and vampires. It’s real, so people of all ages can relate.”
Based on the bestselling series by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games is expected to rake in a whopping $129 million this weekend.
“It’s the action. It’s the love story, the love triangle. Fighting for what’s right,” said Cleveland resident Natasha Diaz.
Diaz and a crew of friends and family plan to attend the midnight debut of the film.
“I like coming to midnight show because then you know you’re here with all the real fans who are excited, and they get excited for difference scenes,” she said. “It’s almost like being at a concert.”
The film’s already made movie history. Fandango has named Hunger Games as one of it’s all-time, top-five best presellers. Advanced sales have reportedly made more than $15 million, bumping Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and the Twilight Saga: Eclipse for the No. 4 spot. The final two Harry Potter films and the last Twilight films make the remaining top five.
“I just really don’t want it to be compared to like Twilight or Harry Potter,” said Tyler Bilfield of Orange. “I just wish it could make its own establishment as a franchise.”
Bilfield said he’s not an avid reader, but after his family became addicted to the trilogy, he’s also become a fan.
“We’ll probably get here around 11 o’clock to get good seats,” he said. “And dressing up. Yeah, going all out. Dying the hair. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’ve got a couple things in mind.”