Lionsgate shares first teaser for The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes

Lionsgate has shared the first teaser for the highly anticipated Hunger Games prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, starring Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler. No, the short clip does not offer any actual footage of the forthcoming film, but it does give us a golden, shimmery snake and songbird.

The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes takes Coriolanus Snow (who was played by Donald Sutherland in the original Hunger Games films), the antagonist leader from the original book series, and meets him at his protagonist roots—64 years before the events of The Hunger Games.

An 18-year-old Snow (Blyth) is tasked with mentoring District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Bair (Zegler) for the tenth Hunger Games. After Lucy defiantly sings during the event’s reaping ceremony, the two join political forces to sway the odds in their favor. Both have a lot to lose, but plenty to gain.

The original Hunger Games trilogy concluded in 2015 with Mockingjay: Part 2. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth led the films, which followed Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen as she competed in multiple Hunger Games under the dystopia’s authoritarian government.

Francis Lawrence, who directed Catching Fire and the Mockingjay films returns to helm The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes. Michael Lesslie (Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed) joins the franchise as the film’s screenwriter. The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins is onboard as executive producer.

“Like everybody, I first saw Rachel Zegler in West Side Story, and like everybody, I knew I was watching a star who would command the screen for a generation,” Lawrence said of Zegler’s casting. “Lucy Gray is a perfect match for her as an actress: the character is bold, independent and defiant, but also vulnerable, emotional and loving. Rachel will make this character unforgettable.”

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes arrives in theaters on November 17, 2023.