Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes drops new trailer

Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, a highly anticipated prequel that explores the beginnings of the dystopian universe, is the latest installment in the Hunger Games series. Lionsgate Films has unveiled the official trailer for the film, which will debut on November 17, 2023, generating anticipation among fans.

The film, which is set 64 years before The Hunger Games, stars Tom Blyth as a young Cornelius Snow, who would grow up to become the brutal king of Panem, the nation that annually compels children from all of its districts to engage in combat to the death.

Starring as Lucy Gray Baird is Rachel Zegler, a Hunger Games participant who receives guidance from Snow. The cast includes Viola Davis, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and Peter Dinklage.

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Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Trailer gives us a peek into the origin of the games

With a detailed narrative of the events that gave rise to the society portrayed in the trilogy, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes aims to transport viewers back in time. The prequel's screenplay was written by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt and was authored by Suzanne Collins.

Dean Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), the creator of The Hunger Games, is seen in the trailer's opening frame taking a sip from a bottle and declaring the following:

"I have summoned you all here for the 10th Annual Reaping Ceremony, in which we choose two children from each District to fight to the death in the Hunger Games."

He then introduces Coriolanus Snow, who goes on to become the primary antagonist of the original Hunger Games trilogy.

"There has been a change this year. As a mentor, Mr Snow, your role is to turn these children into spectacles, not survivors."

In the trailer for Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Jason Schwartzman is shown in a broadcasting studio as Lucky Flickerman, the first-ever host of the Hunger Games. The young girl from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird, draws attention with her singing skills as pandemonium breaks out in a new and improved Panem of the past.

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The film is scheduled to premiere across theaters on November 17, 2023. However, if the SAG-AFTRA strike have not ended by then, the actors won't be able to do publicity for the film. The project is one of a select few tentpoles moving forward with its release.

Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, a prequel novel by The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins, was released three years prior to the release of the film. The book was adapted for the big screen by Michael Arndt and Michael Lesslie.