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‘Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ brings young Coriolanus Snow to life

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‘The Hunger Games’ franchise director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson preview ‘Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,’ the Coriolanus Snow prequel.

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | Official Site

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Watch and Stream the Official Movie Trailer Now. In Theatres November 17th, 2023. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Starring Cast Rachel Zegler, Viola Davis, in the upcoming action-adventure film based on the novel by American author Suzanne Collins.

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Based on the series of books by the same name, The Hunger Games franchise consists of four sci-fi dystopian adventure films, The World of The Hunger Games theme park land and attractions, The Hunger Games Exhibition of the stunning costumes from the movies, and The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 Virtual Reality Experience.

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #...

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Read 59.9k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In th...

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#1 USA TODAY BESTSELLER

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SUZANNE COLLINS/THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

A HUNGER GAMES NOVEL

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) Official Trailer

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) Official Trailer 2

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Watch and Stream the Official Movie Trailer Now. In Theatres November 17th, 2023. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Starring Cast Rachel Zegler, Viola Davis, in the upcoming action-adventure film based on the novel by American author Suzanne Collins.

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A train back to Panem awaits.

The world of The Hunger Games is expanding once again with a big-screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins' prequel novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - and the tributes have already been lined up. The upcoming film is being directed by Francis Lawrence, who helmed the last three Hunger Games movies. Let's take stock of everything we know so far about the highly-anticipated prequel, including its plot, players, and premiere date.

What is The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes about?

A prelude to the original film series starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes tells the story of a teenage Coriolanus Snow before he becomes the authoritarian president of Panem we saw Donald Sutherland portray in the original movies.

The story takes place around the 10th annual Hunger Games. Coriolanus, much to his chagrin, is picked to be a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, a young female tribute from the 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," according to a synopsis from the studio. "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."

Who's directing, writing, and producing?

Francis Lawrence (no relation to Jennifer), who helmed Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1, and Mockingjay Part 2, will return to direct and produce the prequel. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are also returning as producers. Collins, Tim Palen, and Jim Miller will executive produce the film, which features a screenplay by Assassin's Creed writer Michael Lesslie.

Who's in theThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cast?

Tom Blyth ( Billy the Kid, The Gilded Age) has been cast as the young Coriolanus Snow, in the Hunger Games prequel, while Rachel Zegler ( West Side Story, Shazam! Fury of the Gods) will play Lucy Gray Baird. Zegler's West Side Story costar Josh Andrés Rivera has also been tapped to play Snow's friend Sejanus Plinth, while Euphoria breakout Hunter Schafer has been cast as Tigris, Coriolanus' cousin and confidante. A prized Capitol stylist, Tigris was portrayed by Eugenie Bondurant in the original franchise; she is revealed to be Snow's cousin in the prequel.

Jason Schwartzman will portray Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman, host of the 10th annual Hunger Games and ancestor to Caesar Flickerman, portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the original franchise. There will also be a new crop of tributes and mentors, including Jerome Lance as Marcus, a tribute from District 2; Ashley Liao as Clemensia Dovecote, one of Coriolanus' closest friends and mentor to a tribute from District 11; Knox Gibson as Bobbin, a tribute from District 8; Mackenzie Lansing as Coral, a tribute from District 4; and Aamer Husain as Felix Ravinstill, a mentor to a tribute from District 11.

Viola Davis will play Volumnia Gaul, the villainous head gamemaker of the 10th annual Hunger Games. A scientist and instructor at the university Snow attends, Volumnia is also the mastermind behind the Capitol's experimental weapons division. Elsewhere, Peter Dinklage will play Casca Highbottom, the dean of the Academy and unintentional creator of the Hunger Games.

See the actors in character in the posters below.

Other cast additions include Fionnula Flanagan, Scott Folan, Honor Gillies, Burn Gorman, Michael Greco, Daniela Grubert, Isobel Jesper Jones, Eike Onyambu, Carl Spencer, Konstantin Taffet, and Flora Li Thiemann.

When will it debut in theaters?

Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is scheduled to hit theaters worldwide on Nov. 17, 2023.

Will there be any returning cast members from the original trilogy?

Is there a trailer?

Yes, and it shows Lucy Gray and mentor Coriolanus' fight for life or death. In it, Lucy Gray makes a spectacle of herself at the reaping, commanding the country's attention with a defiant song while her mentor decides the best path forward. It also offers a first look at Davis' sinister head gamemaker and Dinklage's Academy dean, who takes a swig of some booze that's reminiscent of Harrelson's hardened mentor Haymitch Abernathy.

"Katniss was an introvert and a survivor," the director said. "She was quite quiet and stoic, you could almost say [she was] asexual. Lucy Gray is the opposite. She wears her sexuality on her sleeve, [and] she really is a performer."

Whereas Katniss was a reluctant face of the rebellion and did not care for the spotlight, Lucy Gray "loves crowds," Lawrence said. "She knows how to play crowds and manipulate people."
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023 movie)

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Everything we know about 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'

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It's almost time to return to Panem and meet Lucy Gray Baird. Before then, here's everything you need to know about 'Hunger Games' prequel 'Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.'

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Actor Jennifer Lawrence addressed rumors claiming she was set to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming film adaptation of Related: The Hunger Games spinoff prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen questioned Lawrence regarding the possibility of a guest appearance as Katniss Everdeen's grandmother in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is set to take place 49 years before the events of the beloved The Hunger Games trilogy. Lawrence jokingly asked if the rumors specifically started because she was "49 in Hollywood years," before going on to deny that she would make an appearance. "No," Lawrence replied when Cohen asked again. "That's not true." Hunger Games Star Jennifer Lawrence Has a Fear of Method Actors

Lawrence previously revealed the upcoming prequel film affected her perception of herself, with the Katniss actor stating it made her feel much older. "[The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes] makes me feel old as mold," she explained. "I remember being 21 and thinking, 'My God, one day they'll do redo and remake them. But I'll be so old by then! I'll be dead!"

Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen

Lawrence made her franchise debut as the protagonist of 2012's The Hunger Games, which was based on author Suzanne Collins' massively popular dystopian sci-fi novel of the same name. Her performance throughout the film and its three sequels was overwhelmingly applauded by fans and critics alike, who praised Lawrence for her impressive performance and her novel accurate portrayal of Katniss. The success of The Hunger Games trilogy additionally propelled Lawrence into global stardom, with the first film raking in $694.4 million at the global box office. Its sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire also earned $865 million from worldwide ticket sales, which cemented Lawrence as the highest-grossing action heroine of all time -- a title that she still holds at the time of writing.

Related: A Hunger Games Theory Connects a Prequel Hero to Another Franchise Villain

While nowadays she is best known for her part in The Hunger Games, Lawrence previously revealed that she had also auditioned for the lead role in the film adaptation of author Stephenie Meyer's Twilight sometime before her debut as Katniss. "I auditioned for Twilight [and] they turned me down immediately," Lawrence said. "I didn't even get a callback. But my life would've been totally different. I got Hunger Games I think, like, a year later."

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes premieres in theaters on Nov. 17.

Source: Twitter

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Hunger Games' Jennifer Lawrence Sets the Record Straight About Rumored Prequel Cameo

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Katniss Everdeen actor Jennifer Lawrence responds to rumors claiming she will make a cameo in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

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Rachel Zegler Regrets Initially Turning Down The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

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After nearly a year of waiting, Hunger Games fans can finally get their hands on Suzanne Collins' highly-anticipated prequel novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Set more than six decades before the start of the original trilogy, the book follows a young Coriolanus Snow (future demagogue of Panem) as he mentors a young Tribute from District 12 (birthplace of Katniss Everdeen, the person who brings about Snow's eventual downfall) in the run-up to the 10th Annual Hunger Games. As it turns out, the mysterious participant, Lucy Gray, has a stronger - almost cyclical - connection to Katniss than we previously thought.

"In the first chapter of The Hunger Games, I make reference to a fourth District 12 victor. Katniss doesn't seem to know anything about the person worth mentioning," Collins said in an interview with Scholastic VP, David Levithan. "While her story isn't well-known, Lucy Gray lives on in a significant way through her music, helping to bring down Snow in the trilogy. Imagine his reaction when Katniss starts singing 'Deep in the Meadow' to Rue in the arena. Beyond that, Lucy Gray's legacy is that she introduced entertainment to the Hunger Games."

While the Games were rather rudimentary in the first decade of poverty and reconstruction after the first civil war, Collins assured Levithan that the 10th anniversary of the event "is where it all blows wide open, both figuratively and literally."

When it came to introducing readers to Snow's origin story so-to-speak, the author looked at the works of poet William Wordsworth and philosopher John Locke. In addition, the character's experience with "trauma, loss, and deprivation" sparked a question of nature versus nurture.

"I thought about Wordsworth's line, 'The Child is father of the Man.' The groundwork for the aging President Snow of the trilogy was laid in childhood," she explained. "Then there's Locke, who's all over this book, with his theory of tabula rasa, or blank slate, in which we're all products of our experiences. Snow's authoritarian convictions grew out of the experiences of his childhood, as did his complicated relationships with mockingjays, food, the Hunger Games, District 12, District 13, and women. So, you rewind and plant the seeds."

So, how do critics feel about the prequel?

"Readers who loved the moral ambiguity, crisp writing and ruthless pacing of the first three books might be less interested in an overworked parable about the value of Enlightenment thinking," Annalisa Quinn wrote in her review of the book for NPR. "That's not to say Collins can't or shouldn't work serious moral and political questions into her novels: It's the sheer obviousness that drags, the way that we know what the right answer is supposed to be."

Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich characterized the novel as "overlong" and "dangerously goofy" in his review. He goes on to say: "Collins can be funny, man, like Coen Brothers funny. In a flashback to resource-depleted wartime, Coriolanus recalls seeing 'a titan in the railroad industry' saw off a dead maid's leg, and not for decoration. Ballad is a major work with major flaws, but it sure gives you a lot to chew on."

Lionsgate is already developing a film adaptation with Francis Lawrence returning to direct. You can listen to the first 11 minutes of the audiobook version (narrated by Santino Fontana) right here. In the four movie adaptations of the first three books, Snow was played by Donald Sutherland.

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Suzanne Collins on filling Hunger Games gaps with prequel novel 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes goes on sale today

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THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES Interviews! Francis Lawrence & Nina Jacobson

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THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES Interviews! Francis Lawrence & Nina Jacobson

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THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES Interviews! Francis Lawrence & Nina Jacobson

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Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth and Josh Andrés Rivera talk new 'Hunger Games' film

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"Can’t Catch Me Now" Olivia Rodrigo (from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes)

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"Can’t Catch Me Now" Olivia Rodrigo (from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes)

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Can’t Catch Me Now (from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes)

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How does Coriolanus Snow evolve as a character throughout the story, and what factors contribute to his transformation into the ruthless President Snow we know from the original trilogy?

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The book explores the moral dilemmas faced by characters, especially Coriolanus. What ethical choices do the characters make, and how do these choices affect their actions and relationships?

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To what extent do you think Coriolanus Snow's upbringing, his family's status, and the society he lives in shaped him into the person he becomes? How much is his character influenced by his inherent nature?

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How does the book provide insights into the stark contrast between the opulent Capitol and the impoverished districts? In what ways does it foreshadow the power dynamics that we see in the original trilogy?

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The book touches on the use of propaganda and media to control public perception. How does it reflect the role of media in shaping public opinion in the real world, and what lessons can we draw from it?

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Discuss the book's portrayal of the early Hunger Games and the way they are presented as a form of entertainment. How does this relate to our own fascination with reality TV and violence in media?

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What do you think about the mentor-student relationships in the book, especially between Coriolanus and Lucy Gray? How do these relationships impact the characters and the overall story?

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The book places significant emphasis on music, particularly through the character of Lucy Gray. How does music serve as a metaphor for hope, rebellion, and individuality in a society that seeks to suppress these elements?

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Explore the themes of family loyalty and personal ambition within the Snow family. How do these dynamics drive the characters' actions and decisions?

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What criticisms or warnings about contemporary society can be drawn from "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," and how do they connect to the themes of power, privilege, and inequality?

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In what ways does the prequel offer foreshadowing for the events that occur in the original Hunger Games trilogy? Are there any details or events that provide new insights into the later books?

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Discuss the character of Lucy Gray, her mysterious and enigmatic nature, and her significance in Coriolanus Snow's life and the larger narrative.

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Have you read/watched The Hunger Games? If so, how did that affect your reading of this book?

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Have you read/watched The Hunger Games? If so, how did that affect your reading of this book?

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Which character did you relate to most and why?

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Which character did you relate to most and why?

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What similarities/influences do you see between Lucy Gray and Katniss Everdeen? How are these qualities different from Snow?

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What similarities/influences do you see between Lucy Gray and Katniss Everdeen? How are these qualities different from Snow?

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How is Snow different from the beginning of the book to the end?

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How is Snow different from the beginning of the book to the end?

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What do you think ultimately happens to Lucy Gray?

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What do you think ultimately happens to Lucy Gray?