Panem’s Battle Royale will be back on the big screen soon. The prequel to The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, will get a movie adaptation next year, Lionsgate announced on Thursday. The new film will premiere on November 17, 2023.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a book written by Suzanne Collins, the author of the original Hunger Games trilogy. The book serves as a prequel to the story of Katniss Everdeen and follows Coriolanus Snow, the president of Panem during the trilogy, as a young man.
The story revolves around the Snow Age with a mysterious and rebellious girl from District 12 named Lucy Gray Baird, whom she leads in the 10th Hunger Games. Of course, fans of the series will remember that Katniss also hails from District 12 when she came to oppose the Snow regime 60 years later in history.
Although the release date is fast approaching, Lionsgate has not announced any of the cast The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The studio revealed that the film adaptation will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who is also a director Hunger Games: Catching Fire as Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2. The film will be written by It catches FIRE author Michael Arndt.
The film was announced during the presentation of Lionsgate at Cinemacon, an annual conference in Las Vegas where movie studios present their upcoming works to movie theater owners.
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