BRUNSWICK – Scores of teenagers showed up at the Regal Cinemas in Brunswick Thursday night to catch the midnight opening of “The Hunger Games.”

The theater operator had three screens showing the movie to meet demand and was ready to add more if needed.

Autumn Thompson, a junior from Bath, arrived early because she didn’t want to take a chance on a bad seat. “We’ve been here since 8 p.m. We were first in line,” she said. “I read all the books in less than a week – all three of them. I loved them. They were amazing.”

“It’s so addictive,” said Marisa Eltzroth, Thompsons friend. “You can’t put it down once you start reading.” Like many enthusiastic fans, she was a little nervous that the movie might fall short of expectations.

Jordan Cyr read the first book in the trilogy last week in anticipation of the movie. “It’s not normal. It’s not common day. It makes you think what you would do in that situation,” he said.

The film is based on a book by Suzanne Collins. “The Hunger Games” is the first in a trilogy that includes “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay.”

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The books have been extremely popular with teens and other young readers as well as their parents

“My daughter made me read it,” said Maureen Edgerton, who came for the midnight opening with her 17-year-old. “I loved it.”

The story revolves around Katniss Everdeen, a rebellious teen forced to care for her mother and sister in an impoverished mining district of a post-apocalypse world.

The autocratic government regularly draws tribute in the form of a male and a female, chosen by lottery, from each of the country’s 12 districts. The tributes, all young people, then fight to the death in “The Hunger Games” which are televised across the land.

Katniss must pit her remarkable archery skills and her knowledge of the forest against brutal adversaries while struggling to reconcile her compassion with her need to survive.


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