comScore
  1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser

Real Or Not Real?

The Hunger Games’ District 12 Is For Sale, In Case You Were Interested

by Jill Pantozzi | 12:55 pm, April 7th, 2012


If you had to pick a district of Panem to live in, your first choice probably wouldn’t be District 12. Then again, seeing as how that’s where Katniss Everdeen grew up (and where they filmed The Hunger Games), well, you might consider it. Turns out you could buy the entire thing if you so desired! Hit the jump to find out exactly how much it’ll cost you. 

According to the Associated Press, you can purchase District 12 for $1.4 million dollars. That gets you 72 acres of land.

The space is actually the Henry River Mill Village near Hildebran, North Carolina, the state in which all of The Hunger Games was filmed. “Although the mill burned down in 1977, the 20-plus remaining buildings, including the company store, make it look like a ghost town. The village is private property, and the local sheriff’s department is working with private security guards to keep people away, concerned about liability if someone gets hurt,” writes the AP.

“I’m getting too many visitors,” said the property owner, Wade Shepherd, ”Day and night, they’re driving through, taking pictures, getting out and walking. I’m just bombarded with people.”

Perhaps Shepherd should have done some research on what happens when popular young adult novels are turned into movies in your town ala Twilight’s Forks, Washington. Of course, just because Shepherd is upset, doesn’t mean the state itself is.

The state Division of Tourism has designed a four-day self-guided tour for fans. The first day includes stops at the Henry River Mill Village plus places where the stars hung out in Asheville. Next is DuPont State Recreational Forest near Brevard, where the arena scenes were filmed, followed by Shelby, where reaping scenes were shot in private warehouse space. A final day in Charlotte includes the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Knight Theater, where interview scenes with the teenage “tributes” were filmed.

For more adventurous visitors, a company called Hunger Games Fan Tours offers day and weekend trips to waterfalls and other spots in Transylvania County. As part of the tour, actors re-enact some of the scenes shot there, and guests are served food described in the story. Participants also learn survival skills like archery, camouflage, fire-building, how to use a slingshot and how to walk quietly in the forest. The tour even includes a competition — only instead of the loser dying, the winner gets a prize.

Shepherd doesn’t think he’d make enough money opening the Mill as a tourist attraction and decided to put it on the market instead. He’s quite proud of its own history which includes a sheriff being shot and killed by a mill worker. He said, ”This is better than the movie, isn’t it?”

Uncomfortable silence.

(via i09)

TAGS: |


  • Anonymous

    I can’t help but find this a bit weird, considering that in The Hunger Games Katniss mentions that the arenas from previous Hunger Games are turned into tourist attractions for Capitol citizens. Talk about reality reflecting fiction XD

  • Anonymous

    I haven’t read the books. Selling the set doesn’t clench that there won’t be a sequel, does it?

  • http://www.thenerdybird.com/ Jill Pantozzi

    No, the studio doesn’t own the set, the owner let them use it (for a price I’m assuming). They’d just have to negotiate with a new owner if it sells. Plus, the sequel is already in motion. http://www.themarysue.com/catching-fire-has-screenwriter/

  • A Talbot

    Honestly, I think it is a great idea for a tourist attraction. 

  • Frodo Baggins

    See, that’s the benefit of creating Hobbiton from scratch.

  • Anonymous

     Yes, but it’s decidedly less morbid and callous. Although, the current owner seems to be more inclined towards thinking that real death is more entertaining than fictional death, so you never know.

X