Suzanne Collins "Hunger Games" books were printed in North America alone. "The Hunger Games" was on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row. Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of "The Hunger Games", produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company. Collins adapted the novel for film herself. Directed by Gary Ross, filming began in late spring 2011, with Jennifer Lawrence portraying main character Katniss Everdeen. Josh Hutcherson played Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth played Gale Hawthorne. The subsequent two novels were adapted into films as well, with the
The Hanging Tree (The Hunger Games song) days" during the month of September 2013. Lawrence later contacted both Schultz and Fraites via text message that the melody was chosen for the film, saying, "It worked out great in the movie. We just shot the scene. Jen was really nervous but it went great." The lead protagonist Katniss Everdeen performs the song in the film, which is also heard over the closing credits. Jennifer Lawrence revealed on "Late Night with David Letterman" that she was anxious about singing the song in the film, citing her fear of "singing in front of other people" as her reason; she also