'The Hunger Games' Takes a Tip from 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn,' Series to be Split into Four Movies

We've seen this move before: just as with "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" before it, "The Hunger Games" will be extending its run in theaters by splitting up one of the books. The book series has three installments, but there will be four movies hitting theaters over the next few years.

The move isn't a huge surprise, considering the potential for "The Hunger Games." After all, it's another young adult series that has enjoyed success and popularity not matching that of "Twilight" or "Harry Potter," but rivaling it. Since Warner Bros. decided to make "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" and follow it up with "Part II," "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" has also been split into two movies.

As of yet, we don't know which book will be split, but of course the likely choice would be the third and final book in the series, Mockingjay. After all, the best time to have a cliffhanger is right before the last movie in the series, as illustrated by the excellent ending of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I."

Interestingly, though, "The Hunger Games" is the first series to plan on making one of the installments a two-parter before the first movie even hits theaters: the first installment in the series, "The Hunger Games," is set for a March 23, 2012 release. It would seem that Lionsgate has all the confidence in the world that the new franchise will be a big success.