Let the Hunger Games begin. Lionsgate on Wednesday volunteered as tribute the new The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes trailer and a new poster featuring the star-studded ensemble of the Hunger Games prequel. Based on author Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel, Songbirds & Snakes takes place more than 60 years before Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) became the victor of the 74th Hunger Games in Lionsgate’s blockbuster young adult saga between 2012 and 2015 — and before a young Coriolanus “Coryo” Snow (Tom Blyth) became the villainous President of Panem (Donald Sutherland).
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The poster shows (from left to right) Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman (Jason Schwartzman), weathercaster-turned-first television host for the 10th Hunger Games; Coriolanus’ cousin, Tigris Snow (Hunter Schafer); Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from Capitol 12 who is mentored by Coriolanus; the 18-year-old “Coryo” (Blyth); Coriolanus’ good friend, Sejanus Plinth (Josh Andrès Rivera), who coined the “Coryo” nickname; Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis), head Gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games; and Casca “Cas” Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), dean of the Capitol Academy credited as the architect of the Hunger Games.
The Songbirds & Snakes synopsis: “Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-years-old Coriolanus Snow 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, the girls 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.”
Francis Lawrence — who directed 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 — returns to direct the prequel. “This is the kind of playground that doesn’t come along very often,” Lawrence said during an appearance at CineEurope earlier this year, “sowhen you have a chance to return, it’s enormously gratifying.”
The series revival “doesn’t feel like it’s trying to duplicate the past films,” said Hunger Games franchise producer Nina Jacobson. “It’s a new story, with new ground and new characters.We were able to create a completely different visual language… one thatis still recognizably Panem, but also different and fresh.”
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opens only in theaters November 17th.
