Jason Schwartzman Joins ‘The Hunger Games’ Prequel

Jason Schwartzman (The Righteous Gemstones) will play Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman in The Hunger Games prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Lucky Flickerman is the host of the 10th Hunger Games and an ancestor of Caesar Flickerman, played by Stanley Tucci in the four previous The Hunger Games films.

West Side Story‘s Rachel Zegler and Billy the Kid‘s Tom Blyth lead the cast as Lucy Gray Baird and Coriolanus Snow, respectively. The cast also includes Jerome Lance as Marcus, tribute from District 2; Ashley Liao as Clemensia Dovecote, one of Coriolanus’s closest friends and mentor to a tribute from District 11; Knox Gibson plays Bobbin, tribute from District 8; Mackenzie Lansing is Coral, tribute from District 4; and Aamer Husain plays Felix Ravinstill, mentor to a tribute from District 11.

Lionsgate is targeting a November 17, 2023 theatrical release.

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 prequel is based on the novel by Suzanne Collins, with The Hunger Games author involved as an executive producer. Director Lawrence, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson produce, and Tim Palen and Jim Miller are involved as executive producers.

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’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.”