Tom Blyth and Peter Dinklage will also star in ‘The Hunger Games’ prequel.
The Big Picture
- A new image from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has been shared, featuring Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird.
- The prequel focuses on Coriolanus Snow’s young life and how his experience as a mentor in the Hunger Games shapes him into a powerful figure.
- The film’s release is expected to push the franchise’s global box office earnings past the $3 billion mark, continuing its iconic impact.
As the return to Panem gets closer and closer to the big screen, a new image from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes featuring Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird has been shared by Total Film. The character looks confused as a soldier stands menacingly behind her, reminding viewers that characters forced to be anywhere near the competition can’t have a moment of peace. Decades before Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) would make a change to how her world operates, a young man’s experience with the Hunger Games would turn him into one of the most powerful people in Panem’s history.
The upcoming prequel will follow the life of Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as a young man, years before he became the merciless antagonist seen in the original Hunger Games film franchise. While Snow was ready to see what the competition itself had in store for him as a mentor to the tributes, he never expected to meet Lucy, and the friendship developed between the two characters would change them both in a profound way. Viewers will get to know how the events of the prequel shaped Snow into the person he would become of the future, obsessed with power and willing to do whatever it takes to keep it.
The film will be released almost eight years after The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 premiered in theaters, bringing the story of Katniss to an end. The final installment in the franchise earned $653.4 million at the worldwide box office, with the combined total of the four films in the series being $2.968 billion. The release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will most likely move the global box office needle of the franchise past the $3 billion mark, continuing the legacy that defined a generation of young adults a decade ago.
The Supporting Cast of Panem
Francis Lawrence was back in the director’s chair for the prequel, after being at the front of three out of the four films starring Jennifer Lawrence. Given how the upcoming movie takes place decades before the events of the previous films, the time period allowed the director to explore new corners of Panem and its history. One of these fresh possibilities will be the introduction of Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom, the man who invented the concept of the Hunger Games competition. He will be joined by Hunter Schafer playing the role of Tigris Snow, Coriolanus’ cousin and trustworthy ally.
Check out the new image from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes below, before the prequel premieres in theaters on November 17:
