There was once a little book named ‘Twilight.’ It featured a simple girl, Bella Swan, caught up in a world she never expected to find herself in. It was a world with vegetarian vampires, like her stoic beau Edward Cullen, and werewolves with abs of steel. Later it became a series. You’ve probably heard of it.

After making millions, November will mark Swan and Cullen’s last hurrah on the silver screen with ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 2.’ Lionsgate Entertainment realized there’s going to be a giant Robert Pattinson sized hole in American’s heart after the finale. The only remedy for a space that big is an immediate replacement.

Hello, ‘The Hunger Games.’

‘The Hunger Games,’ coming out Friday, has garnered the same hype ‘Twilight’ had during its infancy. The shinny new faces of the trilogy are smiling on every magazine cover. We’ve got two attractive male leads to drool over in Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. And there’s a massive sea of fans counting down the hours until the worldwide premiere.

It’s the perfect heir to the ‘Twilight’ dynasty.

Whether or not you’re one of the lucky few with midnight tickets to catch the game, you’re going to be starving for it eventually. Franchises like these become viral, and you can’t avoid them. And honestly, it’s hard to ignore Hemsworth’s baby blues for too long.

The drive to be part of the cultural dialogue is what makes franchises like ‘The Hunger Games’ so pervasive. It’s hard to not acquiesce and jump on the hypercommercial bandwagon. No one likes to be the only one left in the dorm when everyone else goes to the Thursday night premiere.

I’ll admit it: I’ve never read the original novels by Suzanne Collins. When news of the movie came out I was pleased that a rival to ‘The Twilight Saga’ would be hitting theaters. But I promised myself I would not become too interested. Maybe I wouldn’t even see the movies. It seemed silly, and disrespectful to real fans, to be excited about something I knew nothing about.

Then, promo photos spread like wildfire on the web. Eight million people viewed the November trailer on YouTube in its first 24 hours. Everyone I knew was buying presale tickets. Heroine Katniss Everdeen and her bow became omnipresent.

To not know about ‘The Hunger Games’ is to not be part of the conversation. It’s a social faux pas to think Peeta is a type of bread you dip into hummus or that Gale is a name saved for girls. And heaven forbid you ask what Panem is. That’s like not knowing where Massachusetts is on the map.

I realized I had gotten ‘The Hunger Games’ fever while scrolling down a Hunger Games-themed pinboard on Pintrest. I understood the jokes, marveled at the actors’ jawlines and considered sending the decorated cupcake pictures to friends. I still haven’t even read the books, but man, do I feel like I have.

Once ‘The Hunger Games’ come to an end some other sexy and tense fantasy novel will undeniably take its place. The formula works out fantastically for everyone, from production companies to die-hard fans. My bet for the next big hit? The next adaptation coming down the Hollywood pike is ‘Mortal Instruments,’ featuring actress Lily Collins and demon fighters.

With ‘The Hunger Games’ set to open anywhere from $80 to $140 million this weekend, this bandwagon can only get more wheels.

Ariana Romero is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every Thursday. She can be reached at akromero@syr.edu.   

Published on March 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm