'Hunger Games' shoot wraps up

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Principal photography on the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' novel "The Hunger Games" has wrapped up in North Carolina, Lionsgate said.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, the film is to be released March 23, 2012.

It will be the first in a series Lionsgate is making based on Collins' book trilogy.

"The locations spanned from a dense forest in which the arena that hosts the games themselves was created to a town that stood in for Katniss' home, District 12, to a sound stage that was the platform for the fantastical sights and sounds of The Capitol, the futuristic capital city of the nation of Panem," the studio said in a news release. "Principal photography on the 84-day production began on May 23."

The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentley and Toby Jones.

"It has been an absolute thrill watching 'The Hunger Games,' a project that has truly become part of Lionsgate's DNA since our acquisition of the book in 2009, come to life. What I observed on set was impressive on every level, and reinforced my confidence that we have assembled precisely the right team to bring Suzanne Collins' brilliant novel to the big screen," Joe Drake, Lionsgate's co-chief operating officer and motion picture group president, said in a statement Thursday.