Today, dystopias are on the rise.
The Walking Dead is the most-watched basic
cable drama with 16.1 million viewers for its fourth (current) season
premier. Nearly two million of these
fans follow the show on Twitter.
Another
dystopia, The Hunger Games, is one of
Kindle’s top five all-time bestselling books, and the movie adaptation set
records for the highest-grossing, non-sequel opening day, earning $67.3
million.
The Road won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was
subsequently adapted for film.
Summit
Entertainment bought media rights to Divergent
and was given a budget of $80 million for a planned release in 2014.
As the numbers show, dystopias are wildly
successful with today’s audience — and these audiences want more, or else they would have lost
interest in these series. The Walking Dead’s audience grows with
every season, with 5,400 viewers of the season one, 2010 pilot; 7300 viewers of
the season two, 2011 premier; 11,000 viewers of the season three, 2012 premier;
and 16,000 viewers of the season four, 2013 premier. Similarly, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire film adaptation was Fandango’s 2013
advance-ticket top seller, and the opening day grossed around $70.5 million,
earning even more than The Hunger Games.
Dystopian audiences
have grown massive, no longer just a small group interested in George Orwell’s 1984 (although they too are included). And as huge
as dystopias are today, they are only growing in popularity.
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