Synopsis

After surviving the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are forced to tour Panem while unrest spreads through the districts. President Snow attempts to suppress the growing rebellion by placing them in the 75th Hunger Games, a special Quarter Quell that brings together past victors and turns Katniss into an even more dangerous symbol of resistance.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film adapts Suzanne Collins' second Hunger Games novel and expands the series' world beyond the original arena, emphasizing Panem's political unrest and the Capitol's use of spectacle.

• Unlike the first film, which was largely shot in North Carolina, production used locations in Georgia, Hawaii, and New Jersey. Oahu's Waimea Valley provided much of the jungle arena, while Atlanta stood in for several Capitol and District settings.

• Selected arena sequences were filmed with IMAX cameras. The larger format was used to heighten the scale of the jungle, the island environment, and the major action set pieces.

• The arena's water sequences were filmed at a water park south of Atlanta. The water was reportedly only slightly above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, making the scenes particularly uncomfortable for the performers.

• The fish-eating scene used real fish rather than purely artificial food. The actors' dislike of fish made the sequence difficult to shoot, and the cast reportedly found the repeated takes amusing.

• With a reported production budget of about $130 million, the film earned approximately $865 million worldwide during its original theatrical release. It became the highest-grossing entry in the Hunger Games film series and one of the biggest releases of 2013.