Lionsgate shares first teaser for The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes
The Hunger Games prequel stars Tom Blyth and West Side Story's Rachel Zegler
Aux News lionsgate
Lionsgate has shared the first teaser for the highly anticipated Hunger Games prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, starring Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler. No, the short clip does not offer any actual footage of the forthcoming film, but it does give us a golden, shimmery snake and songbird.
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes takes Coriolanus Snow (who was played by Donald Sutherland in the original Hunger Games films), the antagonist leader from the original book series, and meets him at his protagonist roots—64 years before the events of The Hunger Games.
An 18-year-old Snow (Blyth) is tasked with mentoring District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Bair (Zegler) for the tenth Hunger Games. After Lucy defiantly sings during the event’s reaping ceremony, the two join political forces to sway the odds in their favor. Both have a lot to lose, but plenty to gain.
The original Hunger Games trilogy concluded in 2015 with Mockingjay: Part 2. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth led the films, which followed Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen as she competed in multiple Hunger Games under the dystopia’s authoritarian government.
Francis Lawrence, who directed Catching Fire and the Mockingjay films returns to helm The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes. Michael Lesslie (Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed) joins the franchise as the film’s screenwriter. The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins is onboard as executive producer.
“Like everybody, I first saw Rachel Zegler in West Side Story, and like everybody, I knew I was watching a star who would command the screen for a generation,” Lawrence said of Zegler’s casting. “Lucy Gray is a perfect match for her as an actress: the character is bold, independent and defiant, but also vulnerable, emotional and loving. Rachel will make this character unforgettable.”
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes arrives in theaters on November 17, 2023.
21 Comments
Why?
Capitalism!
1. Question everything
2. __________
3. Profit
Why?I was entertained by the movies. Did not read the books. I understand this is based on a newer book.I have no problem with complicated villains—the more complicated the better!—but those movies did not leave me clamoring for some juicy Snow backstory.
Don’t eat the juicy snow.
FWIW, the book was a rare prequel that worked well with the existing series and had some worthwhile character and thematic developments apart from just fan service. If you liked the setting and themes of the original series, you’ll probably enjoy this as a way to spend more time in that world (assuming the movie is a good adaptation, of course)
More than just fan service is a good way to put it. I was totally expecting, say, to get the full story alluded to by Finnick in Mockingjay, the one involving poison, but the novel avoided going that route. You could probably read it with no prior knowledge of the characters and find it a complete and self-contained story. Although it does explain a lot about How Things And Certain People Got That Way, and if you have read the series already, the difference in the way the world works in the earlier setting is fascinating. It really adds such a depth of history to it all. I get why people might not be interested in the backstory of a monster like Snow, but….I dunno, there’s something illustrative about power and desire in it all. Fictional monsters can teach us about real evils.I was impressed, but I feel like I shouldn’t be—Suzanne Collins is a very skillful writer, much, much more than she’s generally given credit for.
I was dismissive at first about the need for a book about Snow (a character I hated), but I remember being impressed at how the book handled him. It was more nuanced than an innocent person who was tragically corrupted or an evil kid who became an even more evil man. Re: Collins- Yes, of all those YA and children’s books that were mega-popular in the wake of Twilight/Harry Potter, her writing always stood out and I appreciated that her books felt more meaningful and honest.
Have you ever read her Gregor the Underlander series? It’s just as bleak and brutal as The Hunger Games, only it’s aimed at *middle-schoolers*. She does not pull her punches even a little bit. (Really good though, and I do recommend them if you enjoy her writing!)
Besides, it’s such a novel concept! Imagine if there was a Star Wars prequel that had a pre-Vader Anakin Skywalker as a protagonist! Then you’d understand his motivation in turning to the dark side (personally I suspect it had something to do with his irritation with sand, for some reason).
I’m sure it means something if you’re a fan, but that title really does not fly off the tongue.
At least this sounds like its set around the game again. Hunger Games had the same problem that Harry Potter did(or does, I guess). The world is built entirely around the need to justify its core concept, the Games in Hunger Games and the Wizarding School in Harry Potter. So as long as the media stays within those it works great. But start getting out of the school or make a book(or two movies) where the games don’t even happen and you start to lose me.
The Games do feature in this book. It’s just a much earlier and less evolved iteration of them. Still pretty brutal!
I thought the core concept of Harry Potter was Harry’s family and the nose guy?
In theory yes, it’s just about Harry’s adventures. In practice, when 6 books are about his school adventures, it kind of becomes about the school (and the whole cast of supporting characters within it) as much as it is him, hence Nilus’ assertion that the lack of Hogwarts (for the most part) in book 7/movies 7 & 8 makes them suffer.
In case you couldn’t tell from the comment, I’m really not a fan.
Harsh but fair
I usually check with my wife for all things Harry. She saw him in Equus, so she’s seen the magic wand.
Not having read the prequel, I’m surprised by the idea that the games and districts have been going on so long — as in 60+ years earlier they were already there. I kind of assumed from the original series that all of this was fairly recent — as in there was dictatorial coup just a few decades earlier.
The Slightly Peckish Games: An Unnecessary Prequel Story
And hopefully more accidentally very sweary posters….