This week Lionsgate finally unveiled the first trailer for The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes, and there’s a lot there to unpack. The first look at one of 2023’s highly-anticipated upcoming book adaptations had a number of callbacks to the original movie franchise, including the introduction of one character that has the internet hilariously realizing Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman has been a nepo baby all along.
The trailer gave audiences a glimpse at The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes stacked cast, including Jason Schwartzman’s role as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, who hosted the Hunger Games decades before his relative Caesar did. Given the nepo baby discourse going viral as of late, fans are having a field day with this detail. Check it out:
@manicpixiegutissues ♬ original sound - Taylor McTague
Across recent months, the internet has been obsessed with the idea that much of Hollywood is actually ridden with nepotism. It has led to discussion among celebrities responding with their own takes on being the children of big stars, including Hailey Bieber stepping out in a ‘Nepo Baby’ T-shirt and self-proclaimed ‘OG Nepo Baby’ Jamie Lee Curtis speaking out about what she considers hurtful discourse. Sure, The Hunger Games franchise is fiction, but the Flickerman storyline came at a perfect time for this connection to hit fans suddenly.
the best part of the hunger games prequel is the strong implication that caesar flickerman is a nepo babyApril 27, 2023
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows the origin story of the tyrannical President Snow before he actually became Panem’s leader. In the prequel, Coriolanus Snow is a teenager (played by Tom Blyth), who becomes the mentor for a female District 12 tribute in the games Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) for the 10th Hunger Games. As the trailer introduces, Schwartzman’s Lucky Flickerman, an ancestor of Caesar Flickerman, was the prominent interviewer in an earlier era of the Hunger Games.
ok loving the flickerman nepo baby dynasty of hunger games interviewers pic.twitter.com/ug0vYjHi6jApril 28, 2023
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie is based on the 2020 prequel novel written by Suzanne Collins, who wrote the original Hunger Games trilogy as well. The new story explores the origins of the games that later have a direct effect on Katniss Everdeen’s Panem crumbling heroic journey. Among the new things we learn in the prequel, it just makes sense that Caesar Flickerman would be a nepo baby, as this Twitter user shared:
CEASAR FLICKERMAN BEING A NEPO BABY MAKE SO MUCH SENSE‼️ https://t.co/MV1ZTVcWfKApril 28, 2023
Stanley Tucci’s role as Caesar Flickerman is one of the most memorable aspects of the original Hunger Games movies. When CinemaBlend spoke to Tucci about Jason Schwartzman’s casting back in December, he said he wished the actor the “best of luck” and gushed about playing the character, calling it one of the “most fun” roles he’s had in a movie. With this prequel on the way, social media is already recalling the original movies, especially in terms of Caesar’s awesome theme music.
@becca.oreilly ♬ War - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
We do wonder if Lucky Flickerman will have the same theme music or not!
Overall, this nepo baby conversation is all in good fun, and with the resurgence of The Hunger Games, it's been entertaining to see the people of the internet connect this beloved franchise to some of the hot topics in Hollywood these days.
Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is hitting theaters on November 17.
