Audiences will be cast back into the fires of Panem with "The Hunger Games:
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes." Here's everything you can expect from the movie,
from who's starring to where it fits into the story.
Fans haven't enjoyed a new "Hunger Games" movie since "The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay — Part 2" hit theaters in 2015. Thankfully, they don't have much longer to wait:
"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" is set to debut on November 17, 2023.
It seems like a long wait for fans of the franchise, but this movie has
actually made a relatively speedy journey to the big screen. The book it's based on,
Suzanne Collins' "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," was released in 2020. That's a pretty
swift turnaround between publication and cinematic adaptation, even for a blockbuster franchise. This
timeline is even more impressive when you take the COVID-19 pandemic into account: The crisis
hit mere months before the book was launched, spoiling all hopes of real-world tours and events.
As the pandemic ground on, the movie's production schedule was doubtlessly impacted — yet the powers
that be still managed to get it cast, planned, filmed, edited, and ready to go in just a few
years. Even the most eager fans can appreciate that sort of flexibility and determination.
In "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes," Coriolanus Snow,
the fiendish despot who menaces Katniss across all four original movies,
is a young man with a massive weight on his shoulders: His family is crumbling,
and he might be the only person who can save it. Accomplishing this gets even more difficult when
he's sent to mentor District 12's female tribute to the 10th annual Hunger Games: Lucy Gray Baird,
a gutsy musician. She wants to win, and her charisma might just help her achieve this.
But the Capitol is as thorny as ever, and plenty of people would like to see Snow and
Lucy burn. New characters like Casca Highbottom, architect of the Games, and Dr. Volumnia Gaul,
head gamemaker, cast long shadows, while ancestors of figures we're already familiar with, like
Lucky Flickerman, reveal just how deeply rooted Panem's dysfunction truly is. Things get even
more complex when Snow's feelings for Lucy become deeper and more urgent than simple mentorship.
Despite the appearance of some familiar names,
producer Nina Jacobson described the movie as an independent entity. She remarked at CineEurope.
"It's a new story, with new ground and new characters. We were able to create a completely
different visual language ... one that is still recognizably Panem, but also different and fresh."
It'll also be a philosophically weighty tale. Jacobson mused to Polygon:
"Are we fundamentally good if left to our own devices? Are we fundamentally bad and need the
state to keep us in check or we'll destroy each other? These ideas about how people perceive each
other and the government, and what they need based on those perceptions, felt so incredibly timely."
"See how quickly we become predators? See how quickly civilization disappears?"
So, who's playing these songbirds and snakes? First and foremost,
Tom Blyth will star as the young Coriolanus Snow. It'll doubtlessly be interesting to
see how he fleshes out the villain after Donald Sutherland's commanding
presence in the first four "Hunger Games" movies. Blyth isn't hugely well known yet,
but he's drummed up some buzz with recent projects like "Billy the Kid" and the HBO
period series "The Gilded Age." His performance as Snow is poised to launch him into further heights.
As for Lucy Gray Baird, she'll be played by "West Side Story" and "Shazam! Fury of the
Gods" star Rachel Zegler. She's already proved she can handle emotional drama, thanks to her
time working with Steven Spielberg on the former musical, while the latter project showcased her
action potential. This is a perfect mix for a dauntless and warm-hearted heroine like Lucy.
The rest of the cast is just as impressive. Celebrated talent Peter Dinklage will play Casca
Highbottom, the complex brain behind the Hunger Games concept. The legendary Viola Davis will play
Dr. Volumnia Gaul, who gets the Hunger Games well and truly rolling with her sinister machinations.
Jason Schwartzman will play Lucky Flickerman, ancestor to Stanley Tucci's Caesar Flickerman.
Many fans have wondered if the stars of the first four "Hunger Games" movies will
make an appearance, particularly Jennifer Lawrence. "Watch What Happens Live" host
Andy Cohen went ahead and addressed a rumor she'll be popping up in the
Panem of the past as Katniss' grandma. Lawrence made it clear that she will not.
"No." "That's not happening."
"That's not true."
Tough luck, Katniss fans.
When fans settle in to watch "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes," they won't just
be returning to a familiar fictional landscape — they'll be returning to the work of a beloved
director. Francis Lawrence, who directed every "Hunger Games" movie except the very first,
will helm the Snow-centric prequel. Fans know he's an expert when it comes to this franchise:
His skillful, inventive, and steady direction is a huge part of what
makes the original quartet work. Now, he's poised to take it back in time.
Lawrence's filmography isn't confined to Panem, however. Moviegoers first
encountered him through 2005's "Constantine," his first feature. More met him through 2007's
"I Am Legend." Since he guided Katniss through the revolution, he's directed two more movies:
the 2018 spy thriller "Red Sparrow" and the 2022 family fantasy "Slumberland."
He's also set to helm an adaptation of the acclaimed "BioShock "video game series.
Francis Lawrence isn't the only familiar creative returning for the prequel.
Producer Nina Jacobson of the production company Color Force has been producing
the "Hunger Games" film series since the very beginning after reading the first
book in 2009 and personally tracking down Suzanne Collins to secure the film rights.
Joining her for "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" is fellow Color Force producer Brad Simpson,
who has worked closely with Jacobson on projects such as the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" film series
and the "American Crime Story" anthology series. Screenwriter Michael Arndt, known for films like
"Little Miss Sunshine" and "Toy Story 3," is also returning after helping pen the script for 2013's
"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." He and fellow screenwriter Michael Lesslie are working from a
treatment by original author Suzanne Collins, who is an executive producer on the project.
"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" has been given an MPA rating of PG-13,
which comes as no surprise given that every previous "Hunger Games" movie has earned this
rating. However, as fans know well, things get plenty dark in Panem. Characters are viciously
murdered, and even our noblest heroes are forced to commit haunting crimes.
Katniss herself ends the series by putting a fatal arrow through President Coin's sternum.
This new outing might take place in the past,
but it's not any rosier. The trailer contains glimpses of all sorts of darkness,
from a wrathful Snow repeatedly firing a rifle to tributes attacking each other in the arena.
"I want my enemies to see a rainbow of destruction."
It appears as though this one is going to be the darkest entry in
the franchise yet — it's been rated PG-13 for "strong violent content and disturbing
material." This phrasing is stronger than that used for previous entries, which only
warned of things like "frightening images" and "thematic material."
To capture the unique setting of post-war Panem in "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of
Songbirds & Snakes," the production went abroad. Filming took place in Poland and
Germany across several locations. Unlike the Hunger Games arenas in the first three films,
which were newly designed and built yearly, the 10th Hunger Games took place in the ruins of an
amphitheater. These bare-bones arena scenes were filmed at Centennial Hall in Wrocław,
a historic building made to host events and concerts.
Additional filming locations include Berlin's Olympiastadion, a sports stadium constructed for
the 1936 Summer Olympics, and the Krematorium Baumschulenweg, also located in Berlin. The
production also made use of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in the German city
of Leipzig. Elsewhere in Germany, a public park built on the site of an abandoned coal and steel
production plant is doubling for District 12, as unofficial photos from the set appear to confirm.
Suzanne Collins' "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" comes in at 517 pages when
you include the epilogue, making it the longest book in the series. The story of
young Coriolanus Snow's formative years is divided into four parts:
His time as a student at the Capitol's Academy, being a mentor for the 10th Hunger Games,
becoming a peacekeeper, and then his reckoning. The book's four-part structure lends itself well
to a two-part movie adaptation — the first part covering the events of the
Hunger Games and the second covering the aftermath — but that won't be the case.
Instead of splitting the movie into two parts like they did with "Mockingjay," "The Hunger Games:
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" will take on the challenge of telling its story in a
single sitting, albeit a rather long one — the runtime is 165 minutes in the United States,
while a slightly shorter version will be shown in other territories. This will make
"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" the longest movie in the series,
taking the crown from "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."
"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" takes place 64
years before Katniss Everdeen volunteers as tribute. Although audiences are well
aware of the origins of the Hunger Games and Coriolanus Snow's future,
the upcoming prequel will offer deeper insight into the already established timeline.
For instance, the 10th Hunger Games is the first to implement mentors for the
district's tributes, chosen from the Academy's top students. Additionally,
the audience incentives of gambling and purchasing gifts for tributes that become
mainstays in future games are implemented for the first time at the suggestion of Snow.
"Everything is about winning. If not the games now, then the crowd."
The film will also show glimpses into the devastating war of the first rebellion and
its immediate aftermath, taking viewers even further back in the timeline.
Music plays a crucial role in "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," hence the title. Lucy Gray
Baird uses her musical talent to her advantage as a way of surviving both the Hunger Games
and day-to-day life in District 12. As Suzanne Collins explained in an interview with Scholastic:
"Lucy Gray's legacy is that she introduced entertainment to the Hunger Games."
She has several original songs which later become a part of Panem history,
like "The Hanging Tree," which was sung by Katniss in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1."
In a Variety interview, Francis Lawrence describes Suzanne Collins as a country music aficionado,
which made finding Lucy's sound less of a daunting task. The film's music producer
Dave Cobb drew from Appalachian music, and the creative team were also influenced
by early Dolly Parton and Sissy Spacek's portrayal of Loretta Lynn when shaping Lucy.
Her version of "The Hanging Tree" can be heard in the second official trailer.
According to Nina Jacobson, this song and others are performed by Rachel Zegler,
who opted to sing them live without playback during filming.
"We also knew that once we had her on set, Rachel really could do it. It's just so easy for her."
Nine-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard is returning to compose the
score as he did for the previous films in the "Hunger Games" series.
Coming back to a franchise eight years after its last installment with an entirely new set
of characters can be intimidating, but the creatives behind "The Hunger Games:
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" were up for the challenge. Francis Lawrence told Collider:
"It very much feels like a Hunger Games movie,
but at the same time feels really fresh and unique, and thematically unique."
As for the approach to the new characters, Lawrence and Nina Jacobson believe they're
captivating in their own right. When describing Lucy Gray Baird to Variety, Jacobson explained,
"She's such a different character from Katniss. She's such a performer. Katniss
is the opposite. This is a woman who loves and lives to perform."
"What is that dress? Is she some sort of clown?"
Snow, on the other hand, posed some challenges for
Lawrence. He explained his thought process to Empire, questioning,
"How do we make this person that's going to be the antagonist of our
story the protagonist of our story? How can we get audiences behind him in his struggle,
and see him change and be groomed and turned into the Snow of the later series?"
Lawrence also revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Tom Blyth was advised to refrain
from watching early Donald Sutherland movies and embrace his own interpretation of the character.
In the literary world, readers regard Suzanne Collins as a highly private person who rarely
participates in interviews and lacks a social media presence. It's unknown
whether she will expand on the world of Panem with another "Hunger Games" book, but she's
yet to dismiss the idea altogether. It's just a matter of finding the right topic and angle.
Speaking to Polygon, Nina Jacobson said that she
doesn't think Collins is done with Panem just yet, saying:
"Do I think she will write more books in the world? I do,
and I hope she will. Do I have any idea what they'll be? Not really!"
"It's a mystery, and mysteries have a way of driving people mad."
One thing's for sure — Collins won't write another Panem-set book just because there's
money to be made. Francis Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly the main reason why
he and Jacobson stand behind her if she chooses to revisit the series, saying:
"Suzanne always writes from a thematic foundation. If she has something to say, I want to hear it.
I'm fascinated by her perspective. I will always want to follow her lead."