Has DreamWorks Found the Heir to the 'Hunger Games' Throne?

Culture

Rumors of a new Hunger Games series have surfaced, and DreamWorks is buying into the idea. According to Deadline.com, the production company announced it has acquired the The Fire Sermon, the first novel of an adult trilogy by Francesca Haig. DreamWorks has already revealed that Carla Hacken will produce the feature film.  

With Catching Fire scheduled to hit theatres this November, three of the four parts of the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' series have yet to hit theaters, but still some are asking: could The Fire Series be "the next young-adult trilogy movie messiah?" 

Haig's trilogy has not been released; in fact, the short-story and poetry writer is still seeking a domestic publisher for the series, according to ComingSoon.net, and an auction will take place on July 10. If previous events are any indication, publishers will be flocking to Haig's trilogy. In the U.K, six publishing companies battled for the rights to Haig's series. The winner was Voyager, "the fantasy imprint of HarperCollins that publishes George R.R. Martin's epic novel A Song of Ice and Fire, which HBO turned into the hit Game of Thrones series.

Deadline.com revealed the apocalyptic plot of The Fire Sermon based on Haig's manuscript version, which vaguely resembles that of The Hunger Games. The story is set "400 years after a nuclear apocalypse." In Haig's fictitious society, all humans are paired off into sets of twins, but each set is made up of one "Alpha," a physically flawless twin and a second "Omega" twin who suffers some physical mutation.

"The apartheid society forces the mutated twins to settlements, even though when one twin dies, so does the other. This is the relationship between a brother and sister twin, and what happens when he becomes a leader in the repressed society," reported Deadline.com.

While the second and third installations of the series have not yet been written, Deadline.com reported that "author has sketched out the other two books for buyers," and there will, in fact, be a trilogy.

Might The Fire Seires be the next Hunger Games? From the very vague description of  we know as of now, the plot certainly resonates with some of The Hunger Game themes such as a dystopian society, a power imbalance between the "haves" and the "have nots," and sacrifice. Plus, Haig has already successfully captured the attention of book publishers and film producer alike who apparently see something worth getting their hands on in the series-in-progress.

Let the games begin...