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Ahead of its November 2023 premiere, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes got its first trailer, shared by Lionsgate, the film’s distributor, on Friday, April 28. While the clip is pretty engaging, courtesy of stunning visuals and picturesque locations, it’s the cast performances that make the video impactful.
The upcoming feature stars the likes of Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, and Viola Davis, among others, and all get prominent space in the debut promotional clip. Davis, however, steals the show, according to many netizens.
In The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Davis plays Dr. Volumnia Gaul. Dressed in a violet gown and blow-out curly highlighted hair, the actress as Dr. Gaul takes the stage and sets the trailer in motion. Given the ace performer’s hold on her skills, it’s not a surprise that her presence left this fan in awe.
In the original novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which was published on May 19, 2020, the character is featured heavily. So it is expected that Davis will also have a meaty role in the Francis Lawrence directorial.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the fifth part of the famed The Hunger Games film franchise, is slated to hit theaters on November 17, 2023.
"It immedietly won me over": Viola Davis' villainy in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes trailer stuns fans
Aided by a piano rendition and later orchestral music, the trailer starts with The Academy’s front, where Davis’ Dr. Volumnia Gaul introduces another star performer, Peter Dinklage, as the academy’s head Casca Highbottom.
Lasting almost three minutes, the clip focuses on an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (who would later become “the tyrannical” President of Panem), played by Blyth, the 10th annual Hunger Games, and him mentoring Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a female tribute from poor District 12.
Davis’ Dr. Gaul appears in quite a few frames and from the apparent looks of it, the character seems villainous. The EGOT winner literally owns the evil shades, leaving fans in awe.
As mentioned, Dr. Volumnia Gaul is a crucial character in The Hunger Games world as she was responsible for launching the annual titular event, which spawned many blockbuster films. She is the head game-maker of the 10th annual Hunger Games and runs a lab in the Academy.
While The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is Viola Davis’ second 2023 release after Air, it’s the third for Dinklage after She Came to Me and the upcoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
As for Zegler, she was last seen in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and has multiple projects in her kitty.
