The Hunger Gamesemerged from the ever-profitable waters of young-adult dystopian science fiction novels and immediately conquered the world. The premise, though a bit derivative, was simple and compelling enough to become a staple of the genre and spawn a massive film franchise. With shockingly little fanfare, fans must prepare to return to Panem in only a few months whenThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeshits the big screen.
If the modern blockbuster scene has taught us anything, it’s that the big franchises aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Big names have survived general unpopularity, broad cultural condemnation, the relentless march of time, thegradual reveal of the creator’s hateful beliefs, and more. With that in mind, it should never come as a shock to see something that was massively popular return from the cultural memory.
RELATED:The Hunger Games Prequel: Everything We Know So Far
The tale of Katniss Everdeen is over, but the upcoming film takes place decades before she was born. Ten years afterthe release ofMockingjay, Suzanne Collins returned to the story with a prequel set 64 years before the original trilogy. Rather than focus on any of her heroes, the story settled in on the early life of the autocratic President Coriolanus Snow. In his original iteration, he’s an unrepentant monster who serves as the traditional ultimate antagonist. He rules with an iron fist, he revels in the suffering of others, and every notable fact about his character sounds like a footnote about a real-world despot.Collins chooses to depicta truly despicable character in his early days, slightly humanizing the future president, but also demonstrating that he’s always been insufferable.
Coriolanus Snow is an orphan who lived his early years in fabulous luxury. Unfortunately for him, arebellion against the decadent Capitalled to the destruction of his family’s factory. He now barely scrapes by living with his grandmother. Coriolanus is extraordinarily intelligent, so he finds himself assigned to mentor a tribute in the 10th annual Hunger Games. His charge is a young musician who earned the attention of the locals by attempting to poison a rival. Coriolanus sees success in the games as the ticket out of poverty that he needs, but a constant stream of drama, intrigue, and murder threatens to end his career before it begins. It’s a clever story that follows the rise of a character that fans had only seen as an all-powerful monster.
The Hunger Gamesisn’t huge on history as a franchise. The premise is simple enough to be summed up in a sentence or two and Collins has wisely avoided diving too deep into the who, why, and when of the fine details.Songbirds and Snakesisthe first and only prequel so far, but it’s still more of a character study. It’s focused almost entirely on Coriolanus Snow, who received a comparatively small amount of attention in the original trilogy. Fans will understand what the character becomes through his characterization in the books and films. However, the history of the games do factor in a bit to the events ofSongbirds and Snakes, since Snow is responsible for a lot of their functions.
The upcoming film adaptation comes to the screen from director Francis Lawrence. Lawrence exploded onto the scene with his2005 superhero horror filmConstantine. He directed three out of the four previous film adaptations ofThe Hunger Games, every film except for the first. Screenwriting duties will be handled by Collins, along with Michael Arndt and Michael Lesslie. The former wroteStar Wars: The Force AwakensandToy Story 3, and the latter penned theAssassin’s Creedfilm. The role of Coriolanus Snow, previously held by the great Donald Sutherland, will now be filledby young talent Tom Blyth. The film will take place during the 10th Hunger Games competition, but there’s more to the film than the tournament. This will be the third take on the battle royale audiences have seen in the franchise thus far. The film’s theatrical release is set for July 11, 2025.
Fans ofThe Hunger Gamesnovels will likely already be familiar with the prequel, but those who have only enjoyed the films will be pleasantly surprised. This story eschews most of the main characters of the original work to focus on another type of story entirely. Though the project will be undertaken by the same director, it’s likelythatSongbirds and Saintswill enjoy a radically different tone from the rest of the franchise. Rather than a group of rebels desperately struggling for freedom, the story will follow a Machiavellian conquerer working his way up from the lowest rungs of high society.The Ballad of Songbirds and Saintswill have a lot in common with the original trilogy, but it’ll allow fans to see Panem through a new lens.
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