The first trailer for The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has been released. Lionsgate unveiled the hotly anticipated teaser for the film which takes place 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games quadrilogy starring Jennifer Lawrence.
The hugely successful film franchise takes place in the dystopian ruins of North America in the Capitol of a nation now known as Panem. Each year, a boy and a girl ‘tribute’ from each of the 12 districts is forced to compete in The Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death.
The upcoming blockbuster explores the backstory of the Games’ president Coriolanus Snow, the villain of the previous films played by Donald Sutherland. The new footage offers a first look at Birmingham-born Tom Blyth as a teenage Snow, alongside footage of West Side Story star Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 tribute.
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Also shown in the trailer are Viola Davis as head game maker Volumnia Gaul, Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage as Dean of the Academy Casca Highbottom and Jason Schwartzman as “Lucky” Flickerman, the Game’s TV host. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is based on Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel of the same name.
The film’s official synopsis reads: “64 years before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows a young Coriolanus (Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12.
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“But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor.
“Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.”
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is slated to hit cinemas on November 17, 2023.
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