You’re invited to return to the Games. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is gearing up, and Lionsgate has announced that Euphoria star Hunter Schafer has joined the cast of the Hunger Games prequel.
Hunter Schafer will play Tigris Snow, cousin and confidante to Coriolanus Snow, who advises him in everything — from his role as mentor to the core of his moral compass. Francis Lawrence, who previously directed Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part One, and Mockingjay Part Two, has returned to helm the prequel. Michael Lesslie (Macbeth) has penned the most recent draft of the screenplay, building on work already done by Suzanne Collins and Michael Arndt.
In addition to Hunter Schafer, the Hunger Games prequel will star Tom Blyth (The Gilded Age) as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) as Lucy Gray Baird. The Hunger Games was one of the biggest YA franchises, and the four films starring Jennifer Lawrence earned over $3 billion worldwide. So when Hunger Games author Susan Collins released a prequel novel two years ago, Lionsgate was quick to snap it up.
“Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol,” reads the official synopsis for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. “With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.“
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released in theaters on November 17, 2023.