Scholastic released Suzanne Collins’s “The Hunger Games” prequel novel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, in 2020. As an avid fan of the trilogy myself, I was desperate to get my hands on the new book and see what all the hype was about–and it was absolutely worth it. To recap the novel in case you’ve forgotten what happened in the three years since it was released, the story surrounds a young Coriolanus Snow, future President of Panem (and current president throughout the original trilogy), as he works as a mentor to tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the Tenth Annual Hunger Games. As this was such an early Games, there were not enough Victors from previous games to be mentors to the tributes, so citizens from the Capitol were chosen instead. The process for obtaining the tributes and transporting them to the Capitol was also yet to be perfected, as in the early days, the process was violent and without regard for the wellbeing of the tributes. In the novel, they were actually kept in an abandoned zoo enclosure to ensure they did not escape. As the book progresses, young Snow falls for Lucy Gray, risking his future as a university student and being sent to work as a peacekeeper in the districts for his meddling to ensure Lucy Gray’s success. Readers even get to learn the history of the iconic “Hanging Tree” song and how it came to be (Hint: Lucy Gray is a singer!). But enough about the book. What about the movie?
The film adaptation of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” will be directed by Francis Lawrence, and cast to play young Coriolanus Snow is Tom Blyth, with Rachel Zegler to play the lovely Lucy Gray Baird. The film is set to release on Nov. 13th of this year. If you are an avid “Hunger Games” fan like I am, I would suggest signing up for Fandango alerts to be notified immediately when tickets go on sale! Link to the website is HERE. While we won’t get any Everlark content in the new movie (sigh), getting to witness the early Games and see how it progressed into what we saw in “The Hunger Games”is pretty amazing. There are a few familiar names throughout the book, generally last names, relatives of characters we meet in the main trilogy, aside from Coriolanus and his cousin Tigris, who we met in “Mockingjay”. This upcoming film has fans like myself chomping at the bit to see the masterpiece Miss Collins created come to life, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
View the Rotten Tomatoes Teaser Trailer HERE!