President Snow Begins In The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes Trailer

"Welcome, welcome! Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor." Long before Effie Trinket greeted the coal mining citizens of District 12 and Katniss Everdeen volunteered in place of her sister for the 74th annual Hunger Games, thereby starting a revolution, there was Lucy Gray Baird. It's been nearly a decade since "The Hunger Games" film series based on Suzanne Collins' award-winning novels came to a close, but the prequel film based on "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is on its way.

It's a fitting arrival as the U.S. seemingly crumbles into a more fascist state with every passing day — making "The Hunger Games" films feel more relevant now than when they first debuted — but also because "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" focuses on the early years of Coriolanus Snow, the villainous tyrant of "The Hunger Games" played by Donald Sutherland. While the U.S. successfully voted out our own wannabe dictator in the 2020 election, his presence and threat to return to power is ever-present. People are constantly debating how the U.S. got into this mess, and how such a genuinely awful person could ever come to such power.

Well, we're about to see what that looks like for President Snow, as up-and-comer Tom Blyth stars in the prequel as the decades-younger Coriolanus, aka "Coryo." Not only is this a tale about what makes a tyrannical leader, but also one that exposes his particular fascination with District 12, as he's tasked to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from the district who is only interested in shaking up the system. Lionsgate released a new trailer today, and this prequel film looks to be as riveting and action-packed as the original series that captivated the world.

Francis Lawrence, who directed the previous "Hunger Games" sequels, returns for "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" and is bringing "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" scribe, Michael Arndt with him. Joining the pair is "Macbeth" and "Assassin's Creed" screenwriter Michael Lesslie, and the story is once again based on Suzanne Collins' novel of the same name. Interestingly, the book came about after Lionsgate had expressed interest in creating additional spin-offs and stories set in the world of "The Hunger Games" (because this franchise is a cash cow for the studio), and definitely has the potential to expand to more films.

Not to spoil anything, but as this is a prequel, we're looking at The Hunger Games before it became the entertainment spectacle we saw in the original series. The games look different, the Capitol citizens act differently, and the governmental rule over the districts is not how they would appear after Snow came to power. This is to say, don't be shocked if this film has a cliffhanger ending that leads to a sequel.

"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" boasts an incredible cast of characters, with some of the most decorated actors working today lending their talents. Joining Blyth and Zegler is Peter Dinklage as the Hunger Games co-creator Casca Highbottom, Viola Davis as the 10th Hunger Games' head game maker Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Jason Schwartzman as the Hunger Games' TV host (and ancestor of Stanley Tucci's Caesar Flickerman), Lucretius Flickerman, Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow, Josh Andrés Rivera as District 2 mentor Sejanus Plinth, Fionnula Flanagan as Grandma'am Snow, Ashley Liao as District 11 mentor Clemensia Dovecote, and Burn Gorman as the peacekeeper Commander Hoff.

"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is scheduled to reach theaters on November 17, 2023.