The Hunger Games prequel movie is officially happening. At CinemaCon on April 28, Lionsgate announced that the movie, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” is currently in production and will be released Nov. 17, 2023.
At CinemaCon, Lionsgate played a clip but didn’t reveal anything specific about the movie. Instead, it showed icy tree branches alongside text that read, “The world will discover who is a songbird and who is a snake.”
The film will adapt the novel of the same name, which was written by the original trilogy author Suzanne Collins and released in May 2020. The book serves as a prequel to the story of Katniss Everdeen and follows Coriolanus Snow, the president of Panem during the trilogy, as a young man.
The story focuses on Snow’s time with a mysterious and rebellious girl from District 12 named Lucy Gray Baird, whom he mentors through the 10th Hunger Games. Of course, fans of the series will remember that Katniss also hails from District 12 when she comes along to oppose Snow’s regime over 60 years later in the story.
Original director Francis Lawrence is back to helm The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, with novel writer Collins working on the script alongside Michael Arndt (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Michael Lesslie (Assassin’s Creed).
Lionsgate has not announced any of the cast of the movie, including who will play President Coriolanus Snow or the District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird.
The original Hunger Games franchise grossed $3 billion at the box office across four movies, released between 2012 and 2015.
