The Hunger Games: Listen to Rachel Zegler's Single "The Hanging Tree" From The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the upcoming prequel to The Hunger Games that is based on the novel by Suzanne Collins of the same name. The film adaptation will follow 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem. If you're familiar with The Hunger Games, you know a staple is the song "The Hanging Tree," which Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is often heard singing. Well, that song has quite a history, and you will hear it again sung by another District 12 tribute: Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). This weekend, Zegler's version of the song was officially released, and the West Side Story alum knocked it out of the park. 

"Listen to 'The Hanging Tree,' out now," the official account for The Hunger Games shared on YouTube. You can listen to the song in the post below:

Why Did Rachel Zelger Originally Turn Down The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? 

Earlier this year, Zegler admitted to the Happy Sad Confused podcast that she initially turned down the role of Lucy Gray. 

"Let me tell you because is such an embarrassing story for me. I was offered it in January of last year after wanting it so badly. I didn't audition, it was just, I got a call from my agent that was like 'Francis Lawrence [The Hunger Games franchise director] wants you to do this.' And I met with him for like three hours at the Soho Hotel in London. And then he told me that they were filming in Germany and in Poland and I had just gotten to London and I wanted to disappear because I was so far away from home for the first time ever. And I was away from everybody that I knew and loved, and I said 'no.'"

She continued, "And I regretted it the second I said it. I had another project lined up that fell through that got pushed into 2023 and I just kind of put my name back into the mix and got it, and I feel really bad for any of the girls... because I put my name back in and they were just like 'yup, OK, cool, we'll do it.'"

Who Stars In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as he sees a chance for a change in fortune when he is chosen to be a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from the impoverished District 12. In addition to Blyth and Zegler, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to feature big names such as Viola Davis (Head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul), Peter Dinklage (Casca Highbottom), Jason Schwartzman (Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman), Hunter Schafer (Tigris Snow), and Josh Andrés Rivera (Sejanus Plinth). 

The movie will also include Fionnula Flanagan as Grandma'am, young Coriolanus Snow's grandmother. Isobel Jesper Jones is playing Mayfair Lipp, the daughter of the mayor of District 12. Honor Gillies will be making her professional acting debut as Barb Azure. Eike Onyambu has been cast as Tam Amber, Konstantin Taffet will be playing Clerk Carmine, Burn Gorman is Commander Hoff, Scott Folan is Beanpole, Carl Spencer is Smiley, and Michael Greco and Daniela Grubert have been cast as Strabo Plinth and Mrs. Plinth, the wealthy parents to Sejanus Plinth, Coriolanus's best friend. Nick Benson, Laurel Marsden, Lilly Cooper, Luna Steeples, and Hiroki Berrecboth are also a part of the cast. 

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to open in theaters on November 17th.