The Hunger Games Series

[BetterButter]

 

[methodwriter85]

8 hours ago, BetterButter said:

 

It's bizarre to me that they're keeping the cast under wraps. Maybe they did indeed manage to cast Zendaya as Lucy and Timothe Chalamet as Snow. LOL (Nah, not going to happen because of Dune.)

I really wanted Halle Steinfield for Lucy (she can still convincingly play a teenager) but not really  sure of a Snow. I would have loved George MacKay but he's too old. Fan favorite Cody Fern is also too old. I hope they got someone fresh.

Edited April 29, 2022 by methodwriter85

[Anela]

Oh, wow, it's been almost two years since the book was released. I had totally forgotten they were making a movie (but of course they were). 

[tv echo]

‘Hunger Games’ Returns With Prequel ‘Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,’ but Cast Remains Mystery
By Rebecca Rubin   April 28, 2022
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/hunger-games-prequel-release-date-1235253782/ 

Quote

The odds were ever in CinemaCon-goers favor on Thursday night, when Lionsgate brought a teaser for “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” to the annual trade show for theater owners.

The clip didn’t show any footage from the movie, which is currently in production, nor did it reveal the cast of the film. Instead, the clip panned over striking shots of icy tree branches and a eye-catching gold as text scrolled that reads, “The world will discover… who is a songbird… and who is a snake.”

Lionsgate also announced the movie will be released in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.

“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” takes place decades before the adventures of Katniss Everdeen and centers on young Coriolanus Snow, who eventually becomes the tyrannical president of Panem.

But in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” he’s no bark and no bite. As an 18-year-old, Snow is chosen to be mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12, during the 10th Hunger Games. (Katniss didn’t come around until the 74th Hunger Games.)

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by tv echo

[BetterButter]

‘Hunger Games’: ‘Billy the Kid’ Actor Tom Blyth to Play Young Coriolanus Snow in Prequel

[methodwriter85]

On 5/16/2022 at 5:41 PM, BetterButter said:

‘Hunger Games’: ‘Billy the Kid’ Actor Tom Blyth to Play Young Coriolanus Snow in Prequel

I've never heard of the guy, but the eyes, face shape, and nose are on point. They clearly decided that he needs to resemble Donald Sutherland. From a purely physical standpoint, I'm impressed with the casting. Let's hope he's good.

Edited May 18, 2022 by methodwriter85

[BetterButter]

Rachel Zegler Cast in ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel as Lucy Gray Baird

[scarynikki12]

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Rachel Zegler Cast in ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel as Lucy Gray Baird

 

What little we know about this movie intrigues me more and more.

[tv echo]

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023 Movie) - Reveal
Lionsgate Movies   Jun 5, 2022

[methodwriter85]

They cast Sejanus with Chino from the West Side Story remake. Nice. 

[BetterButter]

‘Euphoria’ Star Hunter Schafer Joins ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’

[Black Knight]

Hunter Schafer is perfect for Tigris. Damn, I hate we have to wait over a year to see the movie! I've really liked all the casting so far. I'm not familiar with all the actors, but the ones I don't know, their photos seem to nicely embody the personalities of the characters they've been cast to play.

[methodwriter85]

14 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Hunter Schafer is perfect for Tigris. Damn, I hate we have to wait over a year to see the movie! I've really liked all the casting so far. I'm not familiar with all the actors, but the ones I don't know, their photos seem to nicely embody the personalities of the characters they've been cast to play.

Totally perfect.

I'm really hoping that Gaul gets announced soon.The rumor I'm hearing is Viola Davis. 

Edited June 24, 2022 by methodwriter85

[BetterButter]

Jason Schwartzman Joins ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’

[Black Knight]

Peter Dinklage cast as Casca Highbottom!

[Spartan Girl]

This cast looks AWESOME!

[Black Knight]

On 6/23/2022 at 3:11 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I'm really hoping that Gaul gets announced soon.The rumor I'm hearing is Viola Davis. 

The rumor panned out!

If the writing for this movie is even half as good as the casting, it's going to be an incredible movie.

[methodwriter85]

4 hours ago, Black Knight said:

The rumor panned out!

If the writing for this movie is even half as good as the casting, it's going to be an incredible movie.

They've done a really good job. I'm glad they were working whatever scheduling problems might have been going on, because she's going to do a fantastic job. I like that they went with established actors for the adults in Davis, Dinklage, and Schwartzman...all three are very well-known for their character work. 

I doubt this movie has anywhere near the budget that Catching Fire had...it's a much simpler Game without the flashy effects (the only special effects I can see this movie needing are the snakes and maybe CGI to create a coliseum-like open air stadium) so they're really going to need to have tight writing and acting for this to work.  I do think the previous adaptions had a pretty good grip on how to condense the novel into a movie. The games themselves are a pretty short part of the story, although I'm thinking we're probably going to see more of Lucy's perspective.

I just really, really hope we still see the battle between Tanner, Coral, Lamina, and Mizzen- that was my favorite part of the book. I think you could block that well and still keep everything PG-13.

Edited August 16, 2022 by methodwriter85

[Black Knight]

What I really want to know is how they'll handle Snow's inner monologue near the end - any reader knows the one I mean. It's so crucial and so chilling. Even if the scene were in the hands of the best actor in the world, I think Snow's thoughts still have to be verbalized at least somewhat.

[blackwing]

I haven't yet read "Songbirds and Snakes" but I'm debating whether to read the book first and then watch the movie, or wait until after the movie and then read the book.  Typically I read a book, then it gets turned into a movie, and I find myself getting annoyed at the changes.

I wasn't that excited about this movie but now that Viola Davis is in it, I'm completely in.  I would watch her read the food labels on a box of Twinkies.

[tv echo]

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Exclusive First Look
BY TYLER BREITFELLER   AUGUST 16, 2022
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/hunger-games-ballad-songbirds-snakes-prequel-first-look 

Quote

“This is very much a story about love,” says Francis Lawrence. The sentiment may be surprising, coming from the director of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes—but there’s far more to this prequel than the Games you’re expecting. “It’s this kind of love story set in a different kind of a world in a different time,” he adds. “A very intimate love story.” He isn’t wrong.

Set roughly 64 years before the saga told in the original Hunger Games quadrilogy, the new film—based on Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins’s 2020 novel—follows Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) decades before he becomes the most powerful man in the dystopian land of Panem. Still, the future president Snow, played in the Hunger Games films by Donald Sutherland, is no less ambitious as a high school student. “He is a young man finding his way in the world, but he also makes choices that presage the man he is becoming,” producer Nina Jacobson says. Over the course of the film, he’ll find himself caught between two forces of nature: the charming Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) and the villainous Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis). “He is a shape-shifter who craves control, but is drawn to a woman who threatens everything he thought he wanted.”

That woman, Lucy Gray, adds a soft touch to the franchise’s brutal world. Much like Hunger Games heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence in the original films), she’s a tribute from District 12. Unlike Katniss, Lucy Gray hails from a group known for their close-knit, musical culture. (“It’s thrilling to hear Rachel sing,” Jacobson says.) Her relationship with Snow starts in the arena—though it quickly grows beyond what the cameras see. As shown in this exclusive first image from the film, above, she calms Snow in a way that little else in his war-torn world can.

“This is not with judgment, but Lucy Gray is the anti-Katniss,” adds Lawrence. “She’s a musician, she’s a performer, she’s a charmer…. Snow has never met a girl like this before.”
*  *  *
Of course, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will still have callbacks aplenty. “Suzanne has done such a great job of going back into the mythology and telling a story about the creation of the world,” says Lawrence. “You get a little background of Katniss. You will obviously get a lot of the background of Snow, the history of the Games, the history of some of the music, where songs like ‘The Hanging Tree’ actually come from.”

[absnow54]

The Eminem memes in response to the Vanity Fair image will be nothing short of fantastic. 

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, absnow54 said:

The Eminem memes in response to the Vanity Fair image will be nothing short of fantastic. 

I know it's supposed to be when Snow was demoted to a Peacekeeper in District 12 but yeah he DOES look like Eminem lmao

[tv echo]

Anticipation for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes...

2023’s Most Anticipated Movies: ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ Leads Fandango Survey
Anthony D'Alessandro   December 20, 2022 
https://deadline.com/2022/12/top-movies-2023-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-fandango-1235203078/ 

Quote

Digital movie ticket retailer Fandango has unveiled the results of its 2023 Most Anticipated Movies Survey....
*  *  *
2023’s Most Anticipated Blockbusters:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
2. Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (June 2)
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Feb. 17)
4. John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24)
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30)
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Dec. 25)
7. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (July 14)
8. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes (Nov. 17)
9. Creed III (March 3)
10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 7)

*  *  *
Most Anticipated New Performance on the Big Screen:

1. Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid)
2. Viola Davis (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes)
3. Jonathan Majors (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)
4. Christopher Walken (Dune: Part 2)
5. Margot Robbie (Barbie)

*  *  *
Most Anticipated Action/Adventure (Non-Superhero) Movie:

1. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
2. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
3. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes
4. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (June 9)
5. Fast X (May 19)

Edited December 21, 2022 by tv echo

[BetterButter]

[BetterButter]

 

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, BetterButter said:

 

The cast alone makes me psyched.

[Frost]

I hope they can pull off this movie.  The book spent a lot of time outside the actual Hunger Games.  The games are really just a jumping off point.  

I was pleasantly surprised with how well Suzanne Collines dealt with Snow.  She really did a great job with how his ambition gradually took over his life.  I was afraid she was going to try and 'redeem' him, but she didn't take the easy route.  It'll be hard to get the subtilties in a 2 hour movie.  Fingers crossed!

[absnow54]

I will say, as someone who could barely make it 10 chapters into the book (after loving the original trilogy) the trailer did hold my interest.

[methodwriter85]

This looks pretty good. It looks like we're going to see at least some of what happens in the tunnels!

[Spartan Girl]

The design for the rainbow dress looks great.

[Maelstrom]

On 4/28/2023 at 11:54 AM, absnow54 said:

I will say, as someone who could barely make it 10 chapters into the book (after loving the original trilogy) the trailer did hold my interest.

I never even bothered reading this in the first place but the trailer held my interest as well. Definitely a fantastic cast!

[methodwriter85]

On 4/28/2023 at 2:54 PM, absnow54 said:

I will say, as someone who could barely make it 10 chapters into the book (after loving the original trilogy) the trailer did hold my interest.

I honestly thought this movie might wind up better than the book because they're going to forced to cut out a lot of the fat to create a 2 and a half hour movie out of a 500 page novel. The book had a lot, and I'm saying that as someone who enjoyed it.

[Camera One]

I still haven't watched the movie(s) based on the 3rd original trilogy book, so I don't even remember the plot anymore beyond not finding the ending satisfying.  I might have to start back from the first one, but I mostly found this series depressing.  I don't think I can handle reading the books again.

 

[Scarlett45]

I saw the trailer for this before Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, and I was very intrigued. I knew the book existed but I haven’t read it. Do book readers suggest I read before watching the movie?

I think the young man playing Snow has very compelling eyes. I am very excited for this. 

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Do book readers suggest I read before watching the movie?

Absolutely. It moves at a much slower pace than the original trilogy, so some people found it "boring" because of that, but it provides so much background to the how the Games, the Capitol, and even the Districts developed into what we know by THG it's definitely an important part of the overarching story. And I know that no matter how good the movie is, it will never do all of the book justice, LOL, so I definitely recommend getting to know all the characters in the book before you see the movie.

[Scarlett45]

2 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

Absolutely. It moves at a much slower pace than the original trilogy, so some people found it "boring" because of that, but it provides so much background to the how the Games, the Capitol, and even the Districts developed into what we know by THG it's definitely an important part of the overarching story. And I know that no matter how good the movie is, it will never do all of the book justice, LOL, so I definitely recommend getting to know all the characters in the book before you see the movie.

Thank you. I put in a request at the library. 

[Scarlett45]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:04 PM, blackwing said:

I wasn't that excited about this movie but now that Viola Davis is in it, I'm completely in.  I would watch her read the food labels on a box of Twinkies.

I had to quote this because me too. 🥰

[methodwriter85]

On 4/30/2023 at 6:22 PM, Camera One said:

I still haven't watched the movie(s) based on the 3rd original trilogy book, so I don't even remember the plot anymore beyond not finding the ending satisfying.  I might have to start back from the first one, but I mostly found this series depressing.  I don't think I can handle reading the books again.

I think they're depressing in the sense that Katniss was used as a pawn by both sides. It's also depressing in the sense that even with the peaceful happy ending on the meadow, do you honestly think that the Capital isn't going to try and stage a comeback?

[ursula]

18 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

It's also depressing in the sense that even with the peaceful happy ending on the meadow, do you honestly think that the Capital isn't going to try and stage a comeback?

The Capital can't stage a comeback in the literal sense you mean i.e. have another battle and take over. It's more like an Animal Farm kind of situation where the new overlords would eventually morph into the old.

[methodwriter85]

2 hours ago, ursula said:

The Capital can't stage a comeback in the literal sense you mean i.e. have another battle and take over. It's more like an Animal Farm kind of situation where the new overlords would eventually morph into the old.

True. That's essentially what happened to Russia. Every time I read about what's going on there it seems like they're reverting back to Soviet-era ways.

[tv echo]

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes’ Lucy Gray Baird Is The ‘Opposite’ Of Katniss Everdeen, Says Director Francis Lawrence: ‘She’s A Performer’ – Exclusive Image
BY SOPHIE BUTCHER     August 29, 2023
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/hunger-games-ballad-of-songbirds-snakes-lucy-gray-baird-opposite-katniss-everdeen/ 

Quote

The franchise, both in book and movie form, was a huge success, but returning director Francis Lawrence (who helmed sequels Catching Fire and both _Mockingjay_s) still had a big concern at the front of his mind going into making the prequel. “Will people go see a new Hunger Games movie without Katniss?” he asks Empire, speaking to us exclusively for our brand new Dune: Part Two issue. It’s a good question, but one the new film has an answer for. Enter Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from District 12 chosen to compete in the tenth annual Hunger Games, and to whom young Snow is assigned as a mentor. She is the ‘anti-Katniss’, as Lawrence puts it. “Katniss was an introvert and a survivor,” he says. “She was quite quiet and stoic, you could almost say [she was] asexual. Lucy Gray is the opposite. She wears her sexuality on her sleeve, [and] she really is
a performer.”

Where Katniss was a reluctant face of the rebellion, who had to be forced to put on a smile on camera, and keep her fake-turned-real love story with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) convincing so as to get the public on her side, Lucy Gray relishes the spotlight. Where Katniss was deadly with a bow, Lucy Gray uses her wiles as a weapon. “She loves crowds,” says Lawrence. “She knows how to play crowds and manipulate people.” May the odds be ever in her favour.

Edited August 30, 2023 by tv echo

[benteen]

I haven't read the prequel but the trailer looks good. Still, I think it was an incredibly lazy and contrived choice by Suzanne Collins to set the story back in District 12 instead of another District. Try to expand the world a little. It suggest a lack of confidence. 

[Spartan Girl]

27 minutes ago, benteen said:

I haven't read the prequel but the trailer looks good. Still, I think it was an incredibly lazy and contrived choice by Suzanne Collins to set the story back in District 12 instead of another District. Try to expand the world a little. It suggest a lack of confidence. 

Actually, most of it doesn’t take place in District 12, it’s the Capitol.

[Browncoat]

It has to be set partly in 12 to illustrate Snow's history with that district and why he has the attitude he does towards Katniss.  It also helps explain his offhand comment to Seneca about the outer districts.

But yes, it is primarily in the Capitol. 

[angora]

I've read the book, and while I understand the various thematic reasons for focusing on a District 12 Tribute--generally as a prequel to the main trilogy and specifically as it relates to Snow's character--I agree. I really wish we could see more of the other Districts, and to me, when The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes returned to the same well, it felt like a wasted opportunity to explore more of the world.

[tv echo]

Mild spoilers (also, other characters are described in this article, but not quoted below in order to keep quote from being too long)...

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Everything to Know About the Hunger Games Prequel
BY TYLER BREITFELLER    SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/hunger-games-ballad-songbirds-snakes-everything-you-need-to-know 

Quote

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will hit theaters on November 17, 2023. Francis Lawrence, who helmed Catching Fire and both Mockingjay installments, returned to direct.
*  *  *
As this story is set only a decade after that uprising, Songbirds and Snakes reintroduces Panem as a struggling postwar nation. The Games are not yet the spectacle they will become; instead, they’re a militant punishment, a straightforward fight to the death between malnourished teenagers.
*  *  *
Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) portrays a young Coriolanus Snow, the unlikely protagonist of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. You know Snow as the insidious president who oversaw the Hunger Games and repeatedly threatened Katniss in his quest to quell rebellion, but in the prequel, his once wealthy family is living in near poverty. Coriolanus lives with his grandmother and cousin, Tigris, in a lavish Capitol apartment they can no longer afford.

As the film’s anchor, Snow is torn between his ambition and morals as he struggles to navigate the Capitol’s corrupt society. Here, he attends a prestigious Capitol high school and is granted a mentorship position in the upcoming Hunger Games. He is assigned District 12’s female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, and initially sees her victory as a way to ensure his own future success.
*  *  *
Katniss wasn’t the first girl from District 12 to cause trouble for Coriolanus Snow. West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler stars as Lucy Gray Baird, the young woman selected to compete as District 12’s female tribute in the 10th Hunger Games. Her relationship with Snow casts a new light on his relationship, decades later, with the girl on fire.

Lucy Gray is a member of the Covey, a group that had, before the war, roved the country. When her name is called at the reaping, her reaction catches everyone by surprise—and incidentally convinces Snow that she’s anything but a lost cause. Though she isn’t as prepared for the Games as Katniss was, she’s more clever than most presume, and her and Snow’s united showmanship changes the Games’ dynamics forever.
*  *  *
Though The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a “return to the Games,” it isn’t necessarily a survival thriller in the vein of the original story. The Games depicted in the prequel are far from the futuristic, awe-inspiring spectacles we’ve already seen onscreen. In fact, they take place entirely in a condemned amphitheater. Still, it’s a brutal tale, and tributes’, mentors’, and advisers’ lives are on the line. There are gnarly deaths (hey, Panem hasn’t changed that much) and plot twists likely to make your head spin. As the story of how the Games came to be, it centers on a cast of characters whose fates are anything but set in stone.

So, without giving too much away, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes starts before the reaping and continues after a victor is crowned. It takes us through the Capitol, into the arena, and, yes, back to District 12. It is a story of privilege, of exploitation, and of power. It is the story of Coriolanus Snow. And you already know the ending.

Edited September 20, 2023 by tv echo

[BetterButter]

 

[Spartan Girl]

Rachel's cover of "The Hanging Tree" sounds amazing.

[jah1986]

I read the book and I am so looking forward to seeing this in theaters, but man if the book didn't have me rooting for Snow, that's just wrong. Cast looks strong.