First full-length trailer for “The Hunger Games.”

After slowly and steadily building the hype with character posters and an all-too-brief teaser, Lionsgate has finally given us our first real look at The Hunger Games by debuting the first theatrical trailer.  Have a look.

From the looks of this trailer, the filmmakers have done a remarkable job of accurately bringing the world of Panem to life.  The characters look almost exactly the way I imagined, and hearing them speak and watching them interact with each other reinforces the excellent casting decisions.  The trailer does an solid job of building suspense without revealing any of the events that take place once the games begin.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s the plot synopsis:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 16 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.

The Hunger Games opens on March 23, 2012.