The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Featurette Brings Lucky Flickerman to Life (Exclusive)

With The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes taking place decades before the events of the original The Hunger Games movies, audiences knew that iconic characters like Katniss and Peeta wouldn't be part of the adventure, though we were still given some connective tissue to those films, as the prequel featured Lucky Flickerman, the precursor to Stanley Tucci's Caesar Flickerman. Given that Tucci brought a significant amount of charm and humor to those original movies, the filmmakers behind Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes knew they had to find a similarly charming performer for Caesar's ancestor, resulting in Jason Schwartzman being enlisted for the project. You can learn more about the character in an exclusive featurette above from the movie's home video release. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes arrives on Digital today and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 13th from Lionsgate.

The movie is described, "64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes follows a young Coriolanus as he unites with Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games, and battles his instincts for both good and evil."

Based on the Suzanne Collins best-selling novel of the same name, with a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt, and directed by Francis Lawrence, the star-studded cast features Tom Blyth (Benediction), Golden Globe winner Rachel Zegler (Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, West Side Story, 2022), Emmy Award winner Peter Dinklage (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Game of Thrones, 2019), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), Josh Andrés Rivera (West Side Story), Jason Schwartzman (Asteroid City), and EGOT winner Viola Davis (Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, How to Get Away with Murder, 2015; GRAMMY for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording, Finding Me, 2023; Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Fences, 2017; Tony for Best Actress (Leading Role – Play), Fences, 2010). The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is currently still in theaters, where it has earned over $325 million worldwide.

The special features on the upcoming releases are as follows:

4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Special Features

• Audio Commentary with Producer-Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson (Not Included on Digital)
  
• "Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" 8-Part Documentary (Not Included on Digital)
• Songbirds & Snakes (The Acting Ensemble)
• Pure as the Driven Snow (The Music of Lucy Gray Baird)
• A Palette of Tactics (On Location in Poland and Berlin)
• Humanity Undressed (Costume, Makeup & Hair)
• To the Victor Go the Spoils (Stunts & Weapons)
• Inner Sanctum (The Post-Production Process)
• Snow Lands on Top (Reflections)
• "The Hanging Tree" Song by Rachel Zegler
• A Letter to the Fans
• Theatrical Trailers (4K Only)
  

DVD Special Features

• Audio Commentary with Producer-Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
• Welcome Back to Panem
• The Music of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• The Costumes of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• The Casting of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• "The Hanging Tree" Song by Rachel Zegler
• A Letter to the Fans 
  

Apple TV Special Features

• Finding a Different Sound: The Music of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• Welcome Back to Panem
• The Music of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• The Costumes of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• The Casting of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• "The Hanging Tree" Song by Rachel Zegler
• A Letter to the Fans 
  

Amazon Blu-ray Exclusive Special Features

• Imagining a Retro Future: The Look of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• The Arc of a Tyrant: Creating Coriolanus Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes arrives on Digital today and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 13th from Lionsgate.

Will you be adding the film to your collection? Let us know in the comments!