'Hunger Games' goes IMAX

"The Hunger Games" will get the IMAX treatment for a one-week engagement in addition to playing in regular theaters beginning March 23.

A joint statement from Lionsgate Pictures and IMAX Corp. said the film will be "digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality" of the IMAX format.

The movie seems to be taking a page from the playbook of last year's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," which premiered in IMAX theaters five days before the film's Dec. 21 release at regular theaters. The move may also be a way to charge premium-priced tickets for a teen-oriented, big-budget fantasy film that, surprisingly, is not being released in 3-D.

There was, however, some recent confusion about that. In an interview posted Thursday on IGN.com, "Hunger Games" star Josh Hutcherson made this comment: "I just saw it for the first time yesterday and it's great, so much fun. The 3D really draws you into the story and takes you along for a great ride."

A Lionsgate publicist, however, says "Hunger Games" is not in 3-D.

Photo: Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth in "The Hunger Games."