‘The Hunger Games’ Set To Hit The Big Screen In 2012

Let the games begin!

The big screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ beloved novel, “The Hunger Games,” is slated to theaters on March 23, 2012, Lionsgate announced on Wednesday.

According to Variety, Collins – who also penned two more books in the trilogy, “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay” – will be adapting her own book for the big screen.

The lead role of Katniss Everdeen is still up in the air, but Oscar nominee and “True Grit” star Hailee Steinfeld recently told Access Hollywood she’s hoping to be considered for the part.

We caught up with the 14-year-old actress at the InStyle/Warner Bros. Golden Globe awards party earlier this month, where she remained modest about her online buzz for the role.

“That’s… I mean… fingers are crossed,” Hailee told Access. “Fingers crossed!”

Despite the blog hype for Hailee, “Hunger Games” director Gary Ross recently told Entertainment Weekly, “We’ll cast the right person for the part. Lionsgate has been great in the respect that they don’t feel that this needs a movie star in Katniss’ role. The greatest thing about the franchise and the books being the star is that we can cast whoever we want. So we all feel like we’re just going to cast the right person.”