Imagine you're on vacation.
You walk through the doors of an enormous theme park and find yourself in the dystopian mining region known as District 12. Costumed performers wander around, pretending to be the impoverished, starving residents of this poorest of districts. Up ahead you see the Mellark Bakery and the black market called the Hob, both of which you can enter and shop in.
Not far away is a line of people waiting to board a roller coaster that's been built to resemble the massive, high-speed train that Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark rode to the Capitol. Another ride, a motion theater experience, is available to take you on a hovercraft tour of Panem.
And all that's just for starters.
It sounds a bit unrealistic — and possibly depressing — but it's part of a theme park called Motiongate being built in Dubai as we speak. Aside from The Hunger Games, there are other Lionsgate Films' properties planned for the park, along with franchises from DreamWorks Animation and Sony Pictures.
But that's a world away, and somewhere most of us will never get to visit. What about something a little closer to home for those dying to walk District 12's dirty, mountainous roads?
Lionsgate has licensed six of its biggest properties to a planned destination called Avatron Smart Park in Atlanta, Georgia. There, guests will enjoy attractions based not only on The Hunger Games, but Divergent, Step Up, Now You See Me and possibly Twilight.
According to the New York Times, the fundraising process for Avatron Smart Park is "really far along" and could be done by the end of 2016. The construction is believed to be priced in the neighborhood of $625 million, and should it go ahead, Avatron hopes to open in 2019.
In addition to Dubai and Atlanta, Lionsgate has also licensed the rights to its properties for a theme park in Macau, China.
But isn't it morbid to create a theme park based on a story about children forced to fight one another to the death? Avatron vice chairman James Ram told NYT that "there are so many positives about these movies, starting with the fact that she's an empowered young woman."
It remains to be seen if theme park attendees will agree.
Mockingjay Part 2, the conclusion of The Hunger Games film series, will be in theaters on November 20, 2015. Lionsgate has made no secret of its desire to perpetuate the franchise with spinoffs and/or prequels.
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