The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will bring the franchise back to theaters with an all-new story, but if director Francis Lawrence has his way, it won’t be the last prequel movie we see.
The first movie revolved around the 74th Hunger Games, which means that there are decades worth of stories which could be told about the games. Fans have expressed an interest in seeing Haymitch’s (Woody Harrelson) game or Finnick’s (Sam Claflin) game, and while Francis Lawrence would be eager to return for another Hunger Games prequel movie, he told Entertainment Weekly that it would need a good reason to exist.
“I liked being part of the series originally because the stories are great,” Lawrence said. “But what was always gratifying was that they were always about something. Suzanne [Collins, franchise author] always writes from a thematic foundation. The original ones were all about the consequences of war. [Songbirds and Snakes is] about the state of nature. That’s what makes them feel rich and not superficial, and I think it’s why they’ve stood the test of time, honestly.“
Lawrence continued, “If Suzanne has another thematic idea that she feels fits into the world of Panem — whether that’s with new people [or] familiar characters [like] Finnick, Haymitch, whoever — I’d be really interested in looking at it and being a part of it. But I don’t have any pull of just going, ‘I would love to do Finnick’s games.’ He’s a great character, but what’s the thematic underpinnings that make it worth telling and relevant?“
At the end of the day, it’s really all up to franchise author Suzanne Collins. If The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the success Lionsgate hopes it will be, you can imagine they’ll be knocking at her door asking if she has another novel in the works.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes “follows a young Coriolanus who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.“
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released in theaters on November 17th.