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Hunger Games Prequel Movie Will Struggle To Match The Originals' Success
Lionsgate's The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a prequel to The Hunger Games, won't match the original franchise's success. The Hunger Games prequel film has been officially announced and will be based on Suzanne Collins' upcoming novel of the same name, telling the story of young Coriolanus Snow 64 years before the events of her first book in the acclaimed series.
The original films told the story of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a tribute from District 12 competing in the Capitol's annual Hunger Games. However, when she defies President Snow's (Donald Sutherland) showcase of primal violence by not conforming to his games, her act makes her a rebellious symbol against his tyranny. Other districts are quick to join her plight against Snow and the Capitol to demolish the Games and restore balance and peace within Panem. The books quickly rose to prominence and their adaptations were similarly successful for Lionsgate. The Hunger Games is arguably the definitive YA franchise, so it's no wonder that Collins and the studio are so eager to revisit that world with a new story.
Francis Lawrence, who helmed all the films except the first, revealed he would only return the franchise if Collins had a story worth telling. Her new book is yet to be released, but Lawrence is already attached to direct the adaptation. The story of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to follow President Snow at 18, as a mentor for the 10th annual Hunger Games. However, his excitement for this challenge turns to disdain when he's assigned a tribute from District 12. Centering the story around Snow is already a controversial decision, so the novel and film must cautiously approach the character that audiences know will become a cruel dictator. In any case, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will struggle to match the success of the original The Hunger Games films.
Hollywood doesn't have a good history with prequels. Commercially, they tend to be less successful than the franchise they're leading into. Neither Prometheus nor Alien: Covenant were considered successes, and even Star Wars is fixing its prequels with The Clone Wars. New franchise-starters are usually successful because of their originality, and prequels normally exist as a means of cashing in on an already well-established property. Though Collins' story may end up being a worthy addition to The Hunger Games' world, the track record of YA prequels is not encouraging.
Unfortunately, the decision to make Coriolanus the protagonist of the book is also not appealing to fans. Though the prequel has some questions it should answer, one of them is not how Snow turned into such a cold leader. Donald Sutherland gave such a chilling performance in the original films, and humanizing him seems insensitive. Adding extra dimension to a classic villain may have worked for 2019's Joker, but on its surface, Snow's arc doesn't lend itself to any kind of sympathetic portrayal; he isn't as typical a YA lead like Katniss, whose moral compass made her such a great protagonist to anchor a franchise.
As the box-office returns for Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 showed, the franchise ended somewhat poorly, so it possible that audiences may not even want to return to this world. As demonstrated with the Harry Potter franchise, which began successfully before the disappointing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Young Adult movie craze isn't what it used to be. Maybe Collins can bring it back, but the odds aren't stacked in the favor of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
