Across the beloved Hunger Games movies, Stanley Tucci’s role as Panem’s blue-haired host Caesar Flickerman has gone down in history as a massive highlight of it all. When it comes to the franchise going forward (err… backwards) with the prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a Flickerman is set to show up, but it will instead be an ancestor of Caesar played by Jason Schwartzman. What does The Hunger Games actor think of that?
CinemaBlend recently spoke to Stanley Tucci ahead of the actor taking on the role of record producer Clive Davis in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody. When I asked the actor whether he and Schwartzman had connected on playing Flickermans, he said they had not, but had this to say about the casting:
I heard that he was playing that role and I wish him the best of luck because it's the most, it was one of the most fun roles I've ever had. He's gonna have a great time.
Jason Schwartzman’s role as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman was announced back in June ahead of The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes since filming and wrapping production. The character is a Panem weathercaster who becomes part of the 10th Hunger Games in the prequel when he is asked to host the interviews of the contestants, just as Caesar does decades later. As we’ll find, it looks like the profession runs in the family, yet Lucky has a pet parrot named Jubilee.
The 2023 movie release is based on Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel of the same name that follows President Snow as a teenager before he was the leader of Panem. Snow will be played by Tom Blyth and see the character mentor a tribute from District 12 named Lucy Gray Baird, played by West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler. Also among the Ballad of Songbird and Snakes cast is Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer, Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis, who is playing the 10th Hunger Games’ Head Gamemaker.
The movie is directed by Francis Lawrence, who previously helmed the three Hunger Games sequels. When Lawrence spoke to CinemaBlend about returning to the franchise, he teased that the prequel “feels very different and very fresh” in comparison to his experience on the prior films. Of course, the original Hunger Games movies also launched Jennifer Lawrence into mega fame a decade ago, which she also recently spoke to.
Stanley Tucci may not be getting back into the blue wig for the next Hunger Games movie, but he plays a vital and emotional role in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the upcoming biopic about “The Voice.” Tucci embodies Clive Davis, who was Houston’s record producer and partner in her career in a lot of ways. I Wanna Dance With Somebody hits theaters on December 23.
