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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Movie Cast, Plot and Everything to Know

Amy Renner Amy Renner

Oct. 29, 2023

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Release Date: Friday, November 17, 2023 Nationwide

Nina Jacobson, Hunter Schafer, Viola Davis, Rachel Zegler, Francis Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Michael Arndt, Brad Simpson, Suzanne Collins, Tom Blyth, Josh Andrés Rivera, George Somner, Kjell Brutscheidt, Dakota Shapiro, Cooper Dillon, Irene Boehm, Luna Kuse, Dimitri Abold, Vaughan Reilly., Athena Strates

A Hunger Games prequel that takes place decades before Katniss Everdeen’s adventures.

PG-13 Action N/A

  • 4.2

85%

15%

A Hunger Games prequel that takes place decades before Katniss Everdeen’s adventures.

Plot

What's the story about?

Plot
Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), the girl tribute from 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. 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.
Cited as official plot version
Action Adventure Adaptation Prequel

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Top Cast

The lead cast starring in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Crew Behind the Film

The The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes behind-the-scenes crew and production team.

The film's director Francis Lawrence last directed Slumberland and Red Sparrow. The film's writer Michael Arndt last wrote Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe and The Greatest Showman.

Screenwriter
Producers
Nina Jacobson
Francis Lawrence
Brad Simpson
Production Company
Color Force

Additional Information

MPA Rating
PG-13 Parents Strongly Cautioned for strong violent content and disturbing material
Runtime
N/A
Tagline
Not available
Also known as
Hunger Games Prequel

Language
English

All Trailers

Official The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie trailers and clips.

Production Details

What we know about the The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie production.

Key Facts

  • Jason Schwartzman will play Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, the host of the 10th Hunger Games and ancestor to Caesar Flickerman (7/4/2022).
  • Josh Andrés Rivera will play Sejanus Plinth, a close friend of young Coriolanus Snow, and the mentor to a tribute from District 2 (6/26/2022).
  • Jim Miller, the Lionsgate executive who has served as the studio's project executive on all of the franchise's films, will oversee the production (5/9/2020).
  • Author Suzanne Collins will write the film's treatment and Michael Arndt, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine and a nominee for his work on Toy Story 3, will adapt the screenplay, after previously serving as one of the writers of Catching Fire (5/9/2020).
  • Lionsgate has re-enlisted several members of the franchise's creative team and some of the industry's most sought-after filmmakers. Color Force's Nina Jacobson, who has produced all of the films in the franchise, will produce the film adaptation of the new novel along with her partner Brad Simpson, who will also be involved in a producorial capacity. Francis Lawrence, who directed Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1, and Mockingjay Part 2, will return to the director's chair (5/9/2020).
  • One of the most eagerly awaited publishing events of the year, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be published by Scholastic simultaneously in print, digital and audio formats in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on May 19 (5/9/2020).
  • As Suzanne Collin's is planning a May 2020 release of her prequel novel, the studio is "working closely with her on the movie".
  • As Lionsgate entertainment vice chairman Michael Burns said, "The one thing that kids say they missed (from the early Hunger Games films) was there was no arenas. If we went backwards there obviously would be arenas." He was referencing the stadiums where children killed each other and noting the prior films only covered the 74th and 75th competitions (Hollywood Reporter, 12/8/15).

Production Updates

Completed

The film was tagged as Completed.

Post-Production

The film was tagged as Post-Production.

Production

The film was tagged as Production.

Pre-Production

The film was tagged as Pre-Production. Francis Lawrence attached to direct and Michael Arndt to pen the project.

Development

The film was tagged as Development.

Announced

The film was tagged as Announced. Lionsgate entertainment vice chairman Michael Burns compares Hunger Games to Harry Potter and says it will "live on and on and on" with prequels.

Release Dates

When was the film released?

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released in nationwide movie theaters on Friday, November 17, 2023. There were 16 other movies released on the same date, including Thanksgiving, Trolls Band Together and Next Goal Wins.



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Sun., Oct. 29, 2023

  • Set the MPA rating to PG-13 for strong violent content and disturbing material

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