Raise your hands in salute as we welcome the newest addition to the Hunger Games series - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Suzanne Collins, the author of the best-selling The Hunger Games Trilogy, wrote this novel as a prequel to the events set in a post-apocalyptic Panem.
Here is everything we know so far about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Release Date
click to enlargeLionsgate announced the release of The Ballad of Songs and Snakes during CinemaCon 2022 as part of their presentation. They said that the Hunger Games prequel will hit the big screen on November 23, 2023.
This release date follows the same window that the four earlier movies had.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Cast
click to enlargeThere have been no reports about the cast of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Lucy Gray Baird and Coriolanus Snow
By May 31, 2022, there have been recent announcements about the primary cast members of the film. Rachel Zegler was set to star in The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes as the lead female character of the story, Lucy Gray Baird.
Zegler has been dropping hints about her casting role on her Twitter account. She also confirmed that she got her role through another Twitter post.
Baird is the female tribute from District 12 for the 10th Hunger Games, and she will be mentored by a young Coriolanus Snow, who will be played by Tom Blyth.
We got our first of Zegler and Blyth as Lucy Gray and Coriolanus on August 16.
The Other Mentors and Tributes
The actors playing the first set of tributes and mentors were announced in June 2022.
Jerome Lance will play Marcus from District 2, Mackenzie Lansing will play Coral from District 4, and Knox Gibbon will play Bobbin from District 8. Ashley Liao will play the mentor for the tribute from District 11, Clemensia Dovecot, who is also Coriolanus' close friend. The other mentor for the second tribute from District 11, Felix Ravinstill, is played by Aamer Husain.
Other cast members were also announced in June.
This included Hunter Schafer, who will play Tigris Snow, Snow's close cousin and confidant. We also learn that Laurel Marsden will play Mayfair Lipp, the character who placed Lucy Gray Baird's name into the Hunger Games. Jason Schwartzman was also announced as a new cast member, filling in the role of Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman.
Josh Andres Rivera will play the tribute from District 2, Sejanus Plinth. Lily Cooper will play Arachne Crane, the mentor for the tribute from District 10.
Peter Dinklage is Dean Casca Highbottom
On July 8, 2022, Lionsgate announced that Peter Dinklage would be playing the role of Dean Casca Highbottom.
Dinklage is one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood after further cementing his status by winning four Emmy Awards for his role as Tyrion Lannister in the hit series Hunger Games.
Viola Davis is Dr. Gaul
In August, we learn that Viola Davis will be playing the head game maker for the 10th Hunger Games, as Dr. Volumnia Gaul.
Dr. Gaul is a ruthless scientist who controls Snow and how the games turn out.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Creatives
click to enlargeFrancis Lawrence, the director who worked on several movies of the franchise will return to direct The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Another creative who also worked in a different Hunger Games movie is Michael Arndt. Arndt wrote for Catching Fire and will now write for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Plot
click to enlargeThe first four movies of the franchise, Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part One, and Mockingjay Part Two, were directly inspired by the novel series of the same names. These movies introduced us to Katniss Everdeen, a young teen who lived in impoverished District 12 of Panem.
Every year, each district around the Capitol holds a lottery to choose one girl and one boy between 12 to 18 as tributes to the Hunger Games. In the first year she joins the lottery, Katniss' sister Primrose is selected as tribute, and Katniss volunteers as a tribute to save her sister.
From that point on, we join Katniss as she overcomes challenges and tribulations rooted in the profound disengagement between the suffering people of the districts and the lavish lifestyle of the Capitol citizens. She survives the Hunger Games, is returned to the arena for the Quarter Quell, used as the face of revolution, and eventually wins the civil war, but at what cost?
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Follows the Younger Coriolanus Snow
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes us to the 10th Hunger Games, 64 years before the events in the first movie. It focuses on a young Coriolanus Snow (yes, that President Snow) who was tasked to mentor a tribute, and he was assigned a girl from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird. Lucy earned the interest of the Capitol after singing a song during the reaping.
We can expect The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to answer many of the questions we have about the history of Panem and the reasons behind the Hunger Games.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Trailer
Lionsgate released a movie reveal video on June 6, 2022. It gave us a metaphorical representation of the movie, highlighting a golden bird on a branch and a golden snake, slithering up the tree strike on the bird. You can watch the video here:
On April 28, 2023, a few months before the film is officially released, we got to see the official trailer of the film.
The trailer introduced us to a young Coriolanus Snow who was the mentor for Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12, as their relationship grew into something more beautiful and more dangerous for a feisty bird and cunning snake.
Where to Watch The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
click to enlargeThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be available in a theater near you. After the movie completes its theatrical period, we can expect to see it on a streaming platform after a few months.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has reminded the fans of the thrill and excitement we felt from the adventures Katniss experienced. We hope to learn more lessons and be inspired once again by this new movie.
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