Starring WNC

When The Hunger Games opens in theaters March 23, it will be the largest blockbuster filmed on local turf. Here’s a look at the region’s leading role in the post-apocalyptic thriller based on the first of Suzanne Collins’ trilogy of young adult novels.

24 number of teenage contestants from 12 futuristic districts who are chosen through a lottery and forced to participate in The Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death.

7 The number of filming locations in WNC, including Asheville’s North Fork Watershed, DuPont State Forest, the Coleman Boundary in Barnardsville, and Henry River Mill Village in Hildebran.

$100 million Lionsgate’s budget for the film. The Hollywood giant received a 25% tax break from North Carolina for filming here.

$100 The amount extras were paid per day.

26 The number of times cast and crew are believed to have dined at 12 Bones Smokehouse in Asheville. The city served as home base during filming.

3 The number of rattlesnakes caught on set and released. Bear sightings were more common—at least one per day

3rd Following Pleasantville (1998) and Seabiscuit (2003) film Gary Ross has directed. 

8 Students from UNC Asheville interned on the film

600 The estimated number of extras - mostly locals - who appear in District 12 scenes

15 Weeks spent filming the movie from May through August 2011