Josh Hutcherson cast in The Hunger Games

We recently lined up the potential young and leads to star alongside Jennifer Lawrence in Gary Ross‘ adaptation of The Hunger Games.

Lionsgate made it official and has cast Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) as the leading man, Peeta Mellark. He joins Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the female protagonist.

Liam Hemsworth also joins as Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’ best friend. Hemsworth is the younger brother of Chris Hemsworth, starring as Thor in the upcoming film. Frankly, we are glad to see Hutcherson in the starring role. To us, he was the only choice.

The Hunger Games trilogy was written by Suzanne Collins and is a young adult sci-fi story about a future world where children compete in fights to the death for sport. Katniss and Peeta are both chosen to compete and attempt to survive the games and potential love.

The Hunger Games hits theaters March 23, 2012.

(Via Geeks of Doom)