The Hunger Games series, based on the young adult novels by Suzanne Collins, was a smash hit a few years ago. The dystopian saga was set in a post-apocalyptic North America in a nation called Panem. The country, ruled by the almighty Capitol, was divided into 12 districts. Every year, each area chose one teenage tribute to combat in the deathly competition called the Hunger Games. The main heroine of the saga was Katniss Everdeen, who voluntarily participated in this contest. Eventually, she became a beacon of hope in the totalitarian state.
Years later, filmmakers decided to take viewers back to The Hunger Games universe. However, the new film will cover what happened decades before Katniss Everdeen. Here’s everything you need to know about the movie The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes release date
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will drop in cinemas on Friday, 17 November 2023.
Lionsgate Movies
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes plot
The prequel is set 64 years before the events from the original saga. The film’s main character is Coriolanus Snow, who served as the despotic president in the previous series. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes tells the story of his youth.
At 18, Snow is preparing Lucy Gray Baird, a teenage tribute from District 12, for the Hunger Games. Initial reluctance turns into friendship as both Coriolanus and Lucy realise that together, they have a chance to win the deadly competition.
The film is based on Suzanne Collins’s book of the same title, and it’s directed by Francis Lawrence who also worked on the four films in The Hunger Games universe.
Lionsgate Movies
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes cast
The film features mainly young actors, but a few well-known names are in the cast.
- Tom Blyth – teenage Coriolanus Snow
- Rachel Zegler – Lucy Gray Baird, the tribute from District 12
- Hunter Schafer – Tigris Snow, Coriolanus’s cousin and friend
- Laurel Marsden – Mayfair Lipp, responsible for selecting Lucy for the games
- Jason Schwartzman – Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, the host of the 10th Hunger Games and a predecessor of Caesar Flickerman
- Ashley Liao – Clemensia Dovecote, the mentor for the tribute from District 11
- Aamer Husain – Felix Ravinstill, the mentor for the tribute from District 11
- Lilly Cooper – Arachne Crane, the mentor for the tribute from District 10
- Josh Andrés Rivera – Sejanus Plinth, the mentor for the tribute from District 2
The cast also includes Peter Dinklage, the star of Game of Thrones, who portrays Casca Highbottom, the Dean of the Academy. According to the director, Francis Lawrence, Highbottom will be a strict and vengeful man, and his actions will shape Snow’s entire life.
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes trailer
You can watch the first trailer for The Hunger Games prequel below: