'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire': Book Sales Continue to Drop as Movie Approaches

As excited as fans are for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," it's important to remember where the movie came from. Fans rave about the movies, but what about the books they're based on? "The Hunger Games" trilogy began as a book series, but as the movies stole their popularity, sales began to drop, significantly.

"Third-quarter sales of 'The Hunger Games' trilogy were significantly lower than our expectations, particularly in the U.S., Canada and Australia," President and Chief Executive Richard Robinson said in a recent statement.

Sliding sales led Scholastic Corp. reported a wider fiscal third-quarter loss than originally predicted. Overall sales dropped 19 percent.

Scholastic is hoping that sales will rebound upon the release of the second movie. Last year, book sales across the entire trilogy received a major boost after the first film hit theaters. This time around, Scholastic might not be as lucky. Although the movie release may give sales a small bump, most moviegoer fans that bought the first book bought the second as well. Why would returning fans wait to buy the second book until after they saw the second movie?

Additionally, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" won't generate any "Hunger Games" buzz until its release in November. Unfortunately for Scholastic, that's still a long ways away. As a result, it has cut its full-year targets for the second time since November, adjusting projected revenue earnings from $1.9 billion to $1.8 billion.

Sales in the company's children's segment also plummeted 30 percent, due primarily to the dip in "Hunger Games" sales. To make matters worse, international sales fell 11 percent when the series' popularity dwindled in Canada and Australia.

However, there is a silver lining. Scholastic often finds itself in the red during the third-quarter, as it's seasonally the weakest period for educational purchases. It's spring. The school year is coming to a close. No school buys new books in the spring.

Although book sales are faltering, "The Hunger Games" is far from dead. The second installment of the movie trilogy will hit theaters this November and will undoubtedly feed the "Hunger." For fans that have yet to read the trilogy, give it a shot, and help scholastic preserve "The Hunger Games'" foundation.