The Hunger Games film series consists of four science-fiction adventure films based on The Hunger Games novels by the American author Suzanne Collins. The four films, entitled The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, were released serially worldwide between March 2012 and 2015. The first one was directed by Gary Ross, while the other three were directed by Francis Lawrence. Distributed by Lionsgate and produced by Nina Jacobson, it stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth as the three leading characters, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne, respectively.