Netflix’s New 15% YA Sci-Fi Movie Confirms A Harsh Reality After The Hunger Games’ $3.3 Billion Success

Netflix recently dropped a new dystopian sci-fi movie, Uglies, starring Joey King and based on the YA book series by Scott Westerfeld. While the Uglies books have long been a popular addition to the genre, the initial reception of the film has not been positive. Uglies is the latest in King’s disappointing Rotten Tomatoes streak, but there are still plenty of fun moments in the movie, especially for audiences who read the books. However, when compared to standouts of the YA genre, like The Hunger Games, it’s clear that Uglies can’t compete.

The latest installment of The Hunger Games franchise, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, made over $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo). This is difficult to compare to Uglies, as it went straight to streaming, but this level of success and interest is on par with the notoriety of The Hunger Games. In many ways, The Hunger Games is one of the last vestiges of the YA genre. Based on the performance of Netflix’s latest star vehicle for King, Uglies will likely go the same way as other YA franchises that ended after one movie.

Uglies’ Negative Reviews Demonstrate That Interest In YA Stories Is Fading Outside Of Hunger Games

The heyday of YA adaptations in movies and TV is over

The 2010s were a landmark period in film history, particularly for film adaptations of YA dystopian novels that were a hit with the next generation of filmgoers. Divergent, The Maze Runner, and, of course, The Hunger Games all defined this era, but nothing was as popular as The Hunger Games. To this day, there is still an enormous appetite for new movies within the world of The Hunger Games, but no renewed interest has sparked for its contemporaries. The Uglies adaptation has come a decade too late and fails to live up to the high bar The Hunger Games set.

Uglies exemplifies the decline in popularity of the YA genre. Although it adheres to the tropes and visual style of the older films, it doesn’t recapture the magic. Audiences have not demonstrated excitement for Uglies on a level close to The Hunger Games movies, and this could indicate that the YA genre is on its way out. While The Hunger Games might continue to be an exception to this trend, few films that fall into the YA category are being made, and even fewer are well-received. If Uglies does get a sequel, it must work hard to distinguish itself.

Why The Hunger Games Franchise Remains So Popular While Other YA Movies Struggle

It was clear from the first book that The Hunger Games stood apart

The Hunger Games franchise has never struggled to transcend the YA genre and be taken seriously by audiences and critics alike. Suzanne Collins released the first book in 2008, and four years later, the film adaptation starring Jennifer Lawrence hit the screen and transformed a generation of audience members. Many other franchises attempted to capitalize on the success of The Hunger Games, but none reached the same level. Even in the 2010s, Divergent was frequently compared to The Hunger Games, but it lacked the cohesive worldbuilding and character dynamics to be treated as a memorable work of cinema.

There’s a timelessness to
The Hunger Games
that doesn’t rely on tropes or gimmicks to capture the audience’s attention.

The most important scenes in The Hunger Games are all thematically serious and tackle nuanced topics that other YA novels and movies only scratch the surface of. Tally (King) and her struggle in Uglies lacks the depth and urgency of Katniss’ story in The Hunger Games. There’s a timelessness to The Hunger Games that doesn’t rely on tropes or gimmicks to capture the audience’s attention. Though the latest movie, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, came out eight years after Mockingjay – Part 2, it was just as thrilling to return to the world of Panem.

Uglies Doesn’t Have The Same Franchise Potential As The Hunger Games

The world of Uglies is not as compelling as Panem

Between the success of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in 2023 and the upcoming Haymitch prequel Sunrise on the Reaping, which will get a movie adaptation the year after the book’s release, The Hunger Games has no shortage of material to explore. Collins created a world that felt lived in and could exist in many iterations regardless of what characters brought the story to life. Even after Katniss and Peeta’s arc concluded, the history of Panem itself was interesting enough to warrant highly anticipated prequels. The movie iteration of Uglies doesn’t establish a universe nearly as compelling.

The
Sunrise on the Reaping
novel by Suzanne Collins is expected to be released on March 18, 2025.

The Uglies books have four novels in the series, which is on par with The Hunger Games, but having multiple installments isn’t enough to justify a franchise. When comparing Katniss to Tally, there’s only one character who’s interesting and well-developed enough to carry a story across several books and films. Though Katniss is reluctant to lead her revolution, every step she takes aligns with her journey, and the character’s motivations are clear. The rules and consequences in Tally’s world feel underwhelming when compared to the high stakes of The Hunger Games.

On paper, it may seem that Uglies has plenty in common with the dystopian

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