The Hunger Games is a 2012 American science fiction-adventure film directed by Gary Ross and based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. It is the first installment in The Hunger Games film series and was produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, with a screenplay by Ross, Collins, and Billy Ray. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem, which is divided into 12 districts, where a boy and a girl from each district, between the ages of 12 and 18 must take part in The Hunger Games, a televised annual event in which the "tributes" of each district are required to fight to the death until there is only one survivor. Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place. With her district's male tribute, Peeta Mellark, Katniss travels to the Capitol to train for the Hunger Games under the guidance of former victor Haymitch Abernathy.