The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Lands SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement

The cast of the upcoming The Hunger Games prequel will now get to promote their film, amid the still-ongoing SAG-AFTRA actor's strike. On Monday, it was confirmed that Lionsgate has secured a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. This means that, if the strike is still going on as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' November 17th release date gets closer, the ensemble cast of the film will be able to publicly discuss the film and their involvement in it, if they choose to.

This comes as talks to end the strike have been continuing between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP, which Lionsgate is not a member of. Interim agreements have been handed out by the union here and there across the past few months, both for independent narrative films at studios like A24, and for wholly-independent movies and television shows such as the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour concert movie.

Is Jennifer Lawrence in the New The Hunger Games?

Given The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' role as a prequel, it has been safe to assume that Lawrence will not be reprising her role in the prequel. Still, in an interview with Variety earlier this year, the Oscar-winning actress revealed that she would "totally" return to the character in the right context. 

"Oh, my God – totally!" Lawrence explained. "If Katniss ever could ever come back into my life, 100 percent... My producing partner just clutched her heart."

What Is The Hunger Games Prequel About?

In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem's attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy's race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.

The ensemble cast for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes also includes Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Laurel Marsden, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jose Andrés Rivera, Ashley Liao, Mackenzie Lansing, Irene Boehm, Cooper Dillon, Luna Kuse, Kjell Brutscheidt, Dimitri Abold, Athena Strates, Dakota Shapiro, George Somner and Vaughan Reilly, Lilly Maria Cooper, Sofia Sannchez, and Max Raphael. Nina Jacobson will executive produce alongside her producing partner Brad Simpson, as well as Lawrence, Collins, and Tim Palen. 

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