The minute and a half first teaser for Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes shows a stunning golden snake hunting a golden mockingjay after they’ve both shed their frozen exteriors. Text appears that states: “You’re invited to return to the Games. In 2023, the world will discover who is a songbird and who is a snake.”
The cast will be led by Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) as Lucy Gray Baird. The Hunger Games veteran Francis Lawrence returns to direct this prequel after having helmed Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay Part 1 (2014), and Mockingjay Part 2 (2015).
The Hunger Games films are adapted from Suzanne Collins’ bestselling dystopian novels, and Collins is on board to executive produce The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes based on her novel of the same name.
Michael Arndt and Michael Lesslie wrote the screenplay. Director Lawrence, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson are producing.
Lionsgate is targeting a November 17, 2023 theatrical release.
The 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 Gray’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.”
