The Hunger Games movie series is getting a prequel called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It is based on a book by Suzanne Collins coming out in 2020 with the same name. Even though the Lionsgate movie isn’t coming out for a while, a bunch of casting announcements in May and June and a cool-looking teaser have gotten people excited for the games to start.
The movie version is set to come out in November 2023, about eight years after Mockingjay Part 2. It is about a younger Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) who mentors Lucy Gray Baird, who was chosen to represent District 12 in Mockingjay Part 2. (Rachel Zegler). Just to remind you, Snow is the ruthless president that Donald Sutherland has played in other movies. Lionsgate says that the original movies made more than $3 billion around the world. Here’s more about the actors, the story, and when we’ll be back in Panem.
First Look at Songbirds and Snakes
I have to give credit to the people who made this clip. It doesn’t give away much about the movie, but it still pulled me back into The Hunger Games world. We see what looks like an animated version of the book’s cover art. A songbird and a snake are covered in frost, but when the ice breaks, a gold coat shows through. On-screen text says, “You’re welcome to come back to the games.” “Everyone will know who is a songbird and who is a snake in 2023.”
The Ballad Songbirds and Snakes Release Date
On November 17, 2023, the movie comes out. So, if you’re interested, you still have time to get a copy of the book, or you could skip the training and go straight to the 10th games. May the odds always be on your side.
The Ballad Songbirds and Snakes Plot
Collins’s book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, takes place 64 years before the first trilogy. Lionsgate says that part of the movie will be about the time before the 10th Hunger Games. Katniss volunteered to be the tribute for the 74th.) Snow, who is still a teenager and not yet the dictator he will become, sees an opportunity in Baird, the tribute he gave to mentor.
Here is a full summary from Lionsgate: “Years before he became the cruel President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last chance for his once-proud family, which has fallen on hard times in the Capitol after the war. The 10th Hunger Games are coming up quickly, and young Snow is worried when he is given the job of mentoring Lucy Gray Baird, the girl from poor District 12. But when Lucy Gray sings defiantly during the reaping ceremony and gets everyone’s attention, Snow thinks he might be able to change the odds in their favour.”
It goes on to say, “Snow and Lucy Gray’s race against time to stay alive will show who is a songbird and who is a snake by combining their instincts for showmanship and their newfound political savvy.”
Francis Lawrence, who directed Catching Fire and both Mockingjay movies, will be in charge of the fifth Hunger Games movie. The latest version of the script was written by Michael Lesslie, who also wrote the screenplays for 2015’s Macbeth and 2016’s Assassin’s Creed. He used a draught written by Suzanne Collins and Catching Fire screenwriter Michael Arndt as a guide.
Songbirds and Snakes Cast
Tom Blyth plays a young Snow in the prequel movie, and Rachel Zegler plays Baird. Blyth plays the title character in Billy the Kid, a 2022 Western series on Epix. He also appeared in an episode of The Gilded Age, on HBO. Zegler is known for being the star of Steven Spielberg’s 2021 version of “West Side Story.” She will also be in the Shazam sequel Fury of the Gods and will play Snow White in Disney’s live-action version of the animated classic.
Josh Andrés Rivera, who was also in West Side Story and plays Snow’s close friend and fellow tribute mentor Sejanus Plinth, and Hunter Schafer, who was in the HBO show Euphoria, will join them. Schafer plays Tigris, Snow’s cousin who is his best friend and always gives him advice. Jason Schwartzman, who has been in several Wes Anderson movies, will play Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, a Cesar-Flickerman ancestor who will host the 10th Hunger Games.
Lysistrata Vickers, played by Zoe Renee, Festus Creed, played by Max Raphael, Felix Ravinstill, played by Aamer Husain, Arachne Crane, played by Lilly Cooper, Pliny “Pup” Harrington, played by Ayomide Adegun, Domita Whimsiwick, played by Kaitlyn Akinpelumi, and Vipsania Sickle, played by Amélie Hoefer Clemensia Dovecote, a friend of Snow’s who is played by Ashley Liao of Physical and Fuller House, is another. Mayfair Lipp, played by Ms. Marvel star Laurel Marsden, puts Baird’s name in the running for the games.
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