It's time to go back to The Hunger Games... or more fittingly back in time – to the 10th Hunger Games to be exact. It's been almost a decade since Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen saw the end of her harrowing journey as a tribute for District 12. Now, the prequel based on Suzanne Collins' 2020 novel is set to be brought to life with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. You can check out the first trailer above.
As the first look at one of 2023 new movie releases sets up, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will follow a teen President Snow, played by Tom Blyth, long prior to his tyrannical reign. Before he terrorized the people of Panem and their symbol of resistance decades later, he was the mentor to one District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird, played by West Side Story and Shazam!: The Fury of the Gods actress, Rachel Zegler.
The trailer begins with Viola Davis’ Volumnia Gaul, the Head Gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games, as she introduces Peter Dinklage’s character, Casca Highbottom, the creator of the games and dean at the Capitol Academy, which young Snow attends, as he swigs a vial of liquid. It’s a reaping ceremony for the latest games where each of the students will be asked to mentor a tribute, which in Snow’s case is District 12’s Lucy Gray Baird. Check out the movie's two leads on the newly released poster as well:
Release Date: November 17, 2023
Directed By: Francis Lawrence
Written By: Michael Arndt & Michael Lesslie
Starring: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, and more
On the side, Snow is asked to make his tribute a “spectacle” rather than “survivor,” but Lucy is, of course, concerned with actually getting out of the Capitol’s twisted games alive. As the trailer teases a bit, the tribute and mentor will become a bit closer than the Capitol would like them too, bringing them both in additional danger. As if living in a dystopian society isn’t enough!
The trailer showcased The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes stacked cast list, also showing a first look at Jason Schwartzman as an ancestor to Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman, who conducts a much more old-timey version of the Hunger Games broadcast likened to the ‘50s. Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer as Snow’s cousin Tigris also makes an appearance, serving as a confidant to Snow in one moment where she tells him “it’s not just about winning.”
If you’re a fellow longtime Hunger Games fan who read the 2020 novel, you know the world of epicness and pain we’re all in for. For those of you who love The Hunger Games movies, but are not yet familiar with the story, get ready! Suzanne Collins’ prequel has always had a lot to say about the human race and their hunger for power and by the looks of the trailer, this upcoming book-to-screen adaptation looks like it will do the story justice.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to hit theaters on November 17.
