“Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun…” It was 12 a.m. on March 23, and these words filled Facebook and Twitter news feeds. It was the movie premiere of the New York Time’s Bestseller book, The Hunger Games, and many Manual students sacrificed sleep to be at one of the first showings.

The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, was released in 2008, but it was only this year with the movie release that the craze of The Hunger Games began at Manual.

Melissa Nadeau (11) was one of the many Manual students in line for the 12:00 a.m. premiere. Nadeau had a large number of friends reading The Hunger Games but did not expect to the turn out that she did. “There was a Manual student in front and behind me in the line,” Nadeau said. “The majority of the people I saw were Manual students.”

Local theaters have made The Hunger Games their most showed movie each day from the date of the premiere to the Friday following the premiere. Tickets were sold out for both Friday and Saturday night showings before the premiere.

Jordan Deschamp (11) thought that the storyline of the book is what attracted such a large crowd to the movie premiere. “It’s a story involving two guys fighting over one girl, just like Twilight,” Deschamp said. “Also, Liam Hemsworth is so cute.”

Deschamp and Nadeau both predict for the second movie premiere to be just as big considering the number of students who have already read the full series.