What do you think about prequels? Are they boring history lessons that do nothing but fill in blanks and take away from the fun mystery of a franchise? Or are you someone who enjoys seeing the origins of your favorite characters in an attempt to discover how they reached the point where you know them best? Depending on how you answer that, your mileage may vary with “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”
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As seen in the trailer for the new ‘Hunger Games’ prequel, ‘Songbirds & Snakes’ takes the audience decades into the past where we look at the formative years of a young Coriolanus Snow, the man who would grow older and become the villain of the original franchise. This time, we get to see how his emotional attachment to a young girl, Lucy Gray, turned him from a hopeful young man into a hardened, evil political figure.
The film stars Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler, alongside a star-studded supporting that featuring the likes of people such as Viola Davis, Jason Schwartzman, and Peter Dinklage. Veteran ‘Hunger Games’ director Francis Lawrence returns to helm the prequel.
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” debuts in theaters on November 17. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) 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 (Rachel Zegler), 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.