Love triangles abound in both sagas. Robert Pattinson, left, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner of 'Twilight,' and Josh Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth of 'The Hunger Games.'
Left by John Gress, USA TODAY; right by Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES – Both franchises sport love triangles, lethal teens and heroines accustomed to the sight of human blood.
Left by Chris Pizzello, AP; right by AP
Loyal legions or overwhelming overlap? The rampant success of 'The Hunger Games' brings fans of 'The Twilight Saga' back into the spotlight.
Left by Chris Pizzello, AP; right by AP
Loyal legions or overwhelming overlap? The rampant success of 'The Hunger Games' brings fans of 'The Twilight Saga' back into the spotlight.
But don't confuse a Twi-hard with a Hunger-ling.
In the wake of The Hunger Games' monster debut this weekend, fans of that series and TheTwilightSaga franchise have taken to the Web to defend their young-adult titles of choice.
Sites issued columns and polls this week comparing the story lines, stars and box-office potential (most surveys favored Hunger Games, though analysts say that's because the last Twilight film was in November, a teen lifetime ago).
Lionsgate Entertainment, meanwhile, which owns both properties, is happy to watch the skirmish and says there's no need for the fuss (particularly when both parties pay so well: Hunger Games opened to $152.5 million this weekend, the third-largest debut on record). The first Twilight film opened to $69.6 million in 2008.
"Everyone wanted to put (Hunger Games) into the Twilight box," says Tim Pelan, Lionsgate's chief marketing officer. "It's easy to put it in that box because of three young main leads (in both movies). But they're completely different stories with different appeals."
And they draw different, though powerful, demographics. Twi-hards tend to run younger than Hunger-lings, analysts and studio executives say. According to exit surveys by Lionsgate, 56% of Hunger Games' moviegoers were 25 and older, about the opposite of Twilight's film fan base.
The Hunger Games
- Based on: Suzanne Collins' trilogy of The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), Mockingjay (2010)
- Book sales: 6 million copies (source: Scholastic)
- Love triangle:Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth)
- Target audience: Young adult women and men
- Movie versions (earnings):The Hunger Games, $152.5 million in first weekend
- Up next:Catching Fire (Nov. 22, 2013)
Women rule both series. The studio found that about 80% of Twilight's moviegoers are women. This weekend, women made up 61% of Hunger Games moviegoers. Hunger Games had a bigger debut than any Twilight film — 2009's New Moon marks Twilight's biggest opener at $142.8 million. Yet Twilight is the ninth-largest franchise, with $2.5 billion worldwide from four films.
The titles will have another chance to invite comparisons: Twilight's final installment, Breaking Dawn — Part 2, arrives Nov. 16. The second Hunger Games story, Catching Fire, hits screens Nov. 22, 2013.
The Twilight Saga
- Based on: Stephenie Meyer's quartet of Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007) Breaking Dawn (2008)
- Book sales: 116 million copies (source: Publishers Weekly)
- Love triangle:Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner)
- Target audience: Women, all ages
- Movie versions (earnings):Twilight ($192.8 million); New Moon ($296.6 million); Eclipse ($300.5 million); Breaking Dawn — Part 1 ($281.3 million). Franchise total is $1.1 billion worldwide
- Up next:Breaking Dawn — Part 2 (Nov. 16)
Fans already are measuring the opponents. Movieline.com ran a seven-point scorecard, weighing everything from the stories' love triangles to themes to PG-13 action. The site gave Hunger Games the nod in five of the seven categories.
"The Hunger Games has a wider appeal," says Jen Yamato, who wrote Movieline's tale of the tape. "It's more sci-fi/fantasy, while Twilight is a supernatural romance. So more guys are going to see Hunger. Of course … we're still talking millions of fans on both sides."
And those sides should see similarities more than differences, says Fordham University's student-run blog, LC Radar. Author Lauren DeLucca says she is "calling for a world" in which the franchises "can coexist in harmony without one having to be a rip-off of the other."
Alison Genet, a self-professed Twi-hard who runs the Twilight site Twifans.com and Hunger Games' Citizensofpanem.com, says peace is nearly at hand.
"In the long run, people will see how different they are," says Genet, who lives in Santa Barbara, Calif. Twilight "is a love story, the other is a hero's story. It's good fans have a choice."
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