Hunger Games Prequel Officially Underway with Mockingjay Director

The Hunger Games franchise had ended back in 2015, and even then there was word going around that a prequel was in the works. Well, now we know that it's official and the movie has landed a director.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be directed by none other than Francis Lawrence, who had helmed the last three Hunger Games films since Catching Fire.

What's interesting is that the studio has chosen to make this announcement right before the release of the novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins next month. At least it's great to see that Collins is still sticking to writing the books, unlike J.K. Rowling who had tried and stumbled with writing screenplays for the Fantastic Beasts films.

Here's the synopsis of the film according to THR:

The Hunger Games prequel film will focus on Coriolanus Snow at age 18, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem. Young Coriolanus is handsome and charming, and though the Snow family has fallen on hard times, he sees a chance for a change in his fortunes when he is chosen to be a mentor for the Tenth Hunger Games, only to have his elation dashed when he is assigned to mentor the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.

While Hunger Games kind of stumbled with Mockingjay Part 2, I always thought that Lawrence had a good hand at the director's chair. I don't think it was his fault that the studio wanted to expand the last book into three films. I mean, it was all the rage back then with Twilight and Harry Potter.

We don't have a release date for the movie yet, but you can catch Collins' book The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when it comes out May 19.

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