A strong role model lurking behind Lawrence isn’t the only draw, and director Lawrence (no relation) deserved credit too, but we’ll leave it to the myriad critics – and believe us, myriad is the right adjective – to tell you what a good job he did.

Liam HensworthLiam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

“Francis Lawrence imbues the source material with visceral pleasure in well-wrought scenes vacillating between elaborate spectacle, breathtaking terror, and--occasionally--surprising beauty,” Richard Larson of Slant Magazine enthuses. “(Francis Lawrence) adds some important new pieces to that group and expands the world in a way that doesn't throw out Ross's film, but that uses it as a way to get to something even better,” says HitFix’s Drew McWeeny.

Combining the vast fan base - who have no doubt used the first film to entice others into fandom - with the incredible reviews of Catching Fire, we expect the second entry to the franchise to exceed Box Office Mojo’s 40% chance of it breaking the $1billion barrier to be more like 70%.