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Hunger Games' Songbirds & Snakes Prequel Gets A Massive Casting Update
The Hunger Games prequel movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, has added Fionnula Flanagan and 10 other actors in a huge casting update. Based on the book of the same name, the film is set to hit theaters on November 17, 2023 and take place around 64 years before the original quadrilogy. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will star Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler as Coriolaus Snow and Lucy Gray Baird, with the prequel following Snow’s origins and ascent to president of Panem.
A The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes first look has already revealed Blyth and Zegler as Coriolaus and Lucy, with the prequel focusing on their complicated relationship as a Hunger Games tribute mentor and Hunger Games tribute, respectively. With development of the film announced in 2019, it will have to work to redeem the less well-received Mockingjay movies, which saw a gradual decline in reviews and box office returns. Despite production on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes having kicked off in June in Germany, its star-studded roster may not be done yet.
In its final round of casting, Deadline reports Blyth and Zegler will be joined by Tony Award nominee Fionnula Flanagan playing Snow’s strict grandmother Grandma’am in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The District 12 mayor’s daughter Mayfair Lipp will be played by upcoming The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself star Isobel Jesper Jones, and Flora Li Thiemann (Tigermilk) will play the tribute mentor Livia Carden. The rest of the cast includes Honor Gillies as Barb Azure, Eike Onyambu as Tam Amber, Konstantin Taffet as Clerk Carmine, Burn Gorman as Commander Hoff, Scott Folan as Beanpole, Carl Spencer as Smiley, and Michael Greco and Daniela Grubert as Strabo Plinth and Mrs. Plinth.
While The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes may have to out-do itself to overcome the shadow of the Mockingjay movies, it has the upper hand in worldbuilding compared to the orignal Hunger Games as a prequel that further explores Panem’s history. The movie will also face the challenge of balancing its romance with its transformation of Snow into Panem’s ruthless president, with the story likely hitting a different tone than the previous Hunger Games movies just as the book does. Although the first image of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes didn’t get the most positive feedback, Lawrence has a great story and cast with the potential to bring the prequel to life and stand out among the Hunger Games franchise.
Though some may be skeptical of the movie because of the previous films, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' major casting update should help build some excitement for fans of the franchise. With a whole host of talented people bringing the prequel movie to life, including Lost alum Fionnula Flanagan, it will be interesting to see how the film fares in comparison to its predecessors. Only time will tell when The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hits theaters in November 2023.
